Change In Direction
by J'Adore.Chanel
Summary: But it was that smirk that made me realize that it was definitely the same Sasuke regardless of his godlike body. He was still his ignorant, cocky, completely amazing self... the only thing that had changed was the fact that he chose to sit beside me. AU/Revised
1. Chapter 1

**UPLOADED WITH PERMISSION FROM AUTHOR!**

**A lot of you had a problem with this whole switch, so I might as well make some things clear:  
**

**1.) I don't know Tasha Ashes personally. I don't _why _she hasn't been updating besides life and everything else intruding. I don't _when _she'll put up an actual notice because her discontinuing _forever _is still something she's unsure because it's obviously a story that's meant a lot to her.  
**

**2.) I beta'd 'Change in Direction' _way _back in the day when it was a much longer story and not as cropped up as it is now, so trust I know where this is going.  
**

**3.) I'll keep all the same characteristics and plot lines as Tasha Ashes so it won't be as if you're reading a completely different story  
**

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

It's a funny how your entire perspective, your whole personality changes when you reach that inescapable part of your teenage life known as _high school._

Well, at least it did for_ me._

I was one of those girls who grew up in the little part of Jacksonville, Florida that was commonly known as the more "sheltered" community. You know, the higher-class, _rich_ neighborhood where there were never any real hell-raising parties or gangs, and in elementary school motto's like "drugs are bad" and "wait until you're with the one you love for sex" were drilled into our heads until we could recite them backward.

We were spoiled kids that were hidden from the _true_ "horrors"—for lack of a better word— of the world.

Perhaps that would explain why the road leading to my very first year in high school (that awkward phase known as puberty and _grade nine_) was a disaster in the making; the fact that I had no experience with what was thrown at me_—_because back in the elementary school days, when I had walked around wearing rose-colored glasses and had never really had a _real _problem, I'd had the perfect life.

I was at the top of the food chain—pretty and popular, with good grades, money, and an aspiration to become a doctor.

I even had a boyfriend.

The unfortunately named _Moji_.

Except boyfriend wasn't the correct term to use; because dating in the eighth grade —in the upper class Atlantic Beach neighborhood— consisted only of flirting and holding hands with that rare date without your friends giggling around you and hardly any PDA. But at the time, a boyfriend was the '_in'_ thing to have. And I of course, had to have everything 'in'.

And Moji was at the time, a rather popular and perhaps, if you squinted hard enough, a pretty cute guy.

Not that I was much a prize either.

I generally go under the category of the "girl who is gushed about by parents" in terms of beauty, where no one really says out loud how pretty you look except for friends parents. In my case, tall, thin, clean skin, and big green eyes summed it up. I was overly average and nothing _particularly _special, not that it was even bad thing.

But then of course, high school came along . . .

Considering the fact that there were many high schools in Jacksonville, the community—made up of those from my elementary school— was split up. The school I decided to go to was one known for its athletics and academics- basically any old high school except with a rather ambitious reputation. Only a handful decided to attend this school, mostly because it was a tad farther away from our neighborhood, but I was accompanied by best friend of the time Ino Yamanaka, while the rest scattered themselves to the many other more privileged and _expensive_ schools provided in Jacksonville.

So not only did I enter high school not really knowing anyone (except for Ino, who didn't really make that situation a whole lot better), I entered inexperienced of what was infamously known as the "the bad shit list".

Partying, smoking, drugs, drinking, and sex were just some of the lovely doings in this list, and they all surprised me after middle school. Honestly, in ninth grade, they _terrified_ me. And even if I didn't do any of these things, I had to adapt or at least pretend I was okay with everything.

Now, I would consider myself a total _loser _and wallflower in high school but since the eye of society's virtues seemed very different from I was used to (pretty was dressing in as least clothes as possible, cool was not following any sort of conduct or rules and being popular was having _money_) but despite all that, I still found my own group of friends who to a certain point thought likewise with me, and even found a new crush, Naruto Uzumaki.

But by the time grade 10 rolled around, I was still single, and unsure how to even ask Naruto out. Naruto was one of the popular guys, meaning he participated in "the bad shit list", but he didn't seem as hardcore as the others. He was loud, funny, and sometimes rather sweet in his own way, which readily provoked me as well as half of the female population to have a crush on him. So I did the only thing I knew how to do when it comes to crushes, and that was to flirt with him. Or attempt to in my own introvert, shy way.

And hey, Naruto was single and he flirted back, so I actually had a chance. But then again, he flirted with every other girl in his eye range . . . .

But even with little pro's that came along with growing up and facing the unshakeable hierarchy of high school, my _personal _life changed in numerous way and much faster than I could catch or deal with.

Ino Yamanaka, my best friend since the days there still naps in school and having pigtails was the cutest thing in world was on a quest to become popular and everything that pertained to _before _high school was suddenly uncool.

Including me.

My older sister went off to the University of Miami and left me to deal the train wreck that was once was my parent's marriage. Two people, who some bazillion years ago, had been all lovey dovey and _grossly _happy with one another had come to a mutual agreement in their relationship that I suspect consisted of them fighting every opportunity they got and only staying together as long as I was still in high school.

As if I wanted to come from another sucky day of high school to them at each other's throat arguing of the most miniscule and stupidest little things.

But the most difficult was Samuel.

He'd been my cat for seven years (he'd been a present from my tenth birthday) but something had gotten into my crazy little kitty's head and now he's _anorexic. _He was skinny, frail and eternally grumpy.

My life was more or less, continual downward spiral that seemed to hit that rock bottom.

And of course, what type of story would this be if it _didn't_ go spiraling out of control again? A bad one, I'll tell you that. So to make this story a lot more interesting, life has decided to add another change to the list (not that there aren't enough already)_—_and I can't say it's a bad one.

No longer will I be an average, unpopular, seventeen-year old in grade eleven, with only a handful of friends, an anorexic cat, and two parents at war.

Why?

Because Sasuke Uchiha had moved to Atlantic Beach.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

I hate the first day of school.

I find it _so_ awkward coming back and "reuniting" with everybody that I'd had accidental run-ins with all summer.

I mean, people who you barely even know start talking to you about their _amazing_ summer as if you're their best friend. And then they give a "welcome back" hug- which are the worst. This all happens for about three days until everyone goes back to their respective cliques and pretends that everyone else but them don't exist again.

Anyways, I figured out that if you arrive 5 minutes before you have to be in class, then you can avoid all the weird introductions_—_or reintroductions. You don't get to check the class list as thoroughly, but it is better then hugging every person that walks by you.

So, after quickly checking what my homeroom class was, I raced up to the part in the hall where my friends and I decided to have our lockers this year. Sure enough, there was an empty one in beside Ino's, which is exactly where I placed my lock.

And then off to my homeroom.

I smelled the distinctive odor that came from the art room 11C- paint. That's right_—_my homeroom is art class. Surprisingly, at a school that's famously for it's top notch academics and athletics_—_almost every student takes art or drama, mostly because it's a slacker period and you hardly do any work_—_basically a spare period to do other homework in.

So once I entered the class, I scanned the room for anyone I knew, and relief immediately washed through me as I saw Hinata sitting alone at one of the tables.

To put Hinata in a nutshell, I would say she is quiet, shy, unbelievably kind, tends to stutter, super moral, has a cousin that goes here in the same grade but is popular (and by now, I think you know what being popular means), her mother died when she was little and her father is so strict that I haven't even been to her house yet even though she's one of my best friends.

That's Hinata in a nutshell.

As I walked over to her, at least three more people stopped, hugged me and asked me how my summer was (my reply being for all of them "Oh, mine was good, how about you?"). And even as I sat down and a couple of others joined me at the table, I still had to give hugs. I find these hugs so pointless. You barely know the person and the exchange is hardly genuine. I should make a vow to give up hugs_—_they are way too annoying. Except I did let Hinata hug me, after all she is one of my _actual_ friends.

As we waited for the anthem to play on the P.A, we chatted about how our summer was and what subjects we picked, etc. I didn't really listen with as much enthusiasm as the others, but put in the occasional "Oh! That's cool!" and "Sweet," where appropriate. The national anthem played, and no one sang, as usual. The teacher hadn't entered at this point but when she did walk in, I had a pretty good idea of what the rest of the year was going to be like.

A mix between _weird_ and, well, I don't even know what it would be mixed with.

She was new to the school, and you could tell that just by the way she _dressed_. Ms. Lunids had very long, wavy, blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in about a month. She had tiny spectacles, about 10 beaded necklaces, and wore colourful, baggy clothing that looked like they were bought from a grandma's garage sale, even though she looked like she was in her late twenties.

Well, that's cool I guess_—_we have a hippy as our art teacher.

"Good morning, children," She greeted in a calm (_very_ calm) but cheery voice. "I am Ms. Lunids, and I welcome you to Art 12."

Hinata and I exchanged looks, wondering why someone like this is teaching art and not hosting some preschool TV show on how to decipher your colors and the chanting the alphabet with a guitar in line.

"Today I thought that we would start off with a project that would symbolize you, and channel your expression into your art. We are going to create our very own personal symbol!" she continued, saying the last part like it was something magical. "But before I get you all _excited_, we should take attendance."

She then proceeded to call out the names on the attendance list. I zoned out for most of them until my name was called or when someone new to the school was announced and Ms. Lunids gave them a small introduction. So far, none of the new kids seemed interesting. But just when I was deciding that this was going to be another boring school year, Ms. Lunids called on someone that, in time, would become very significant to me: Sasuke Uchiha.

At first, I didn't even look up_—_I had given up on the any prospect of excitement that a new kid could bring and sought to pull out my iPod instead, while still vaguely listening to the introduction.

"Well, Sasuke," Ms. Lunids started, "how are you liking Florida so far?"

"Fine." Replied an unfamiliar velvety voice_—_one that I automatically assumed was Sasuke's.

"And did the moving go okay?"

"Yeah."

"Have you made any friends yet?"

"Sure." The voice replied for the third time. I could hear a couple of students snickering at his clear unresponsiveness.

"That's lovely," Ms. Lunids genuinely answered with a smile_—_which was a little odd.

When even more students started snickering I decided to find out who exactly this Sasuke person was, because by hearing just a glimpse of his attitude, I could tell he would be the next big gossip.

When I found the form of Sasuke Uchiha I immediately decided to take back my dislike of hugging strangers. I seriously thought my jaw hit the floor_—_he was absolutely _gorgeous_. Black hair that begged for someone's hand to run through it, perfect Greek god-like features, and from where I could see, he was _ripped_.

And it seemed he already was well-liked, for he was amidst a group of ogling girls and the more popular guys.

I watched as someone from his group asked him a question. In return, Sasuke turned and steadily scanned the classroom. The next thing I knew he had caught my gaze_—_or rather, caught me blatantly staring at him_—_with dark unreadable eyes. I didn't realize that my mouth was agape until after his lips turned in a small smirk and he continued with answering the question he was asked.

I immediately flushed a deep red and turned back to the girls I was sitting with. They had the same expression I had_—_apparently I wasn't the only one who thought he was drool-worthy material. Now, I'm not one who is boy- crazy (you know, the ones that scout for guys, talk about them, flirt like crazy and have new crushes every week, cough_—_Ino_—_cough) but that had defiantly changed.

* * *

Art is stupid.

My teacher is a loser.

We spent the whole time trying to find our inner selves by drawing to music (hardly anytime to slack off)_—_but I couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke. It wasn't my fault though_—_every other girl in the classroom was thinking the exact same thing as me. I could tell from the far off look in their eyes as they pretended to draw. In the end, I had only one small doodle that very suspiciously looked like the outline of a guy. A real hot, new guy to be exact.

Oh well.

I can do this project later.

The class ended when Ms. Lunids handed out our schedules for the rest of the year. The first thing I did when I received mine was compare it Hinata's, and figured out that on day one we had Art and Business together, and on day two we had Math and English together. The rest of my schedule went as followed:

Day 1: Art, English, Lunch, Instrumental, and Biology.

Day 2: English Media, Math, Lunch, Spanish, and Chemistry.

The second period bell rang and I was off to English. I hoped that Ino would be there, so I could tell her about Sasuke Uchiha.

But English class ended up being very boring. Maybe it was because Ino wasn't there_—_or any of my other friends for that matter. We got sheets and forms for our parents to sign and we played a stupid spelling game. I just read a book at my desk . . . . well, tried to read, because I never absorbed any of the words. My thoughts kept drifting to Sasuke, _again_.

It was actually _very_ annoying. He was just a regular guy who probably will flirt his way into some girl's pants, but I just can't stop thinking about him. I mean, I just met him like half an hour ago_—_actually I didn't even _meet _him_—_I just made eye contact with him, then he gave me a some type of smirk, w but still it was really hot and I remember not being able to breath and why am I still thinking about him?

Ugh.

I need to get him out of my head. I bet I'm just delusional from lack of food; I mean I _did_ forget breakfast, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So food. That's most definitely the reason. I need food.

Wrong.

Food was not the answer. It just kept my brain functioning enough to process thoughts about_—_guess who? A stupi_d _really good-looking person that I haven't even met.

So, not only was I annoying myself, but I also was embarrassing myself. We were eating lunch by our lockers ("we" being Ino, Hinata, and a couple other friends) and Ino was talking about how her math class was. This is how it went:

Ino: So yeah, I hate my English teacher, he made a seating plan _and_ gave us homework_—_on the first day!

Hinata: insert shy giggle.

Ino: But the seating plan wasn't bad_—_the teacher put me really close to this gorgeous guy. I mean, can you say sexy? What was his name? Started with a 's' or something?

Me: Oh My God! Sasuke Uchiha_—_you saw him!?

Now how fangirl-ish does that sound?

And I am definitely _not_ a fan girl. Especially over some random guy.

But, as it's turning out, it seems like I might become one pretty soon (and I don't want that, _at all_). I mean, it's only lunchtime of the first day of school, and I'm already obsessed with a complete stranger.

But when I think of his eyes and his hair and the glorious body that he was probably hiding underneath those useless clothes_—_who wouldn't be?

* * *

I wouldn't really be taking instrumental if it wasn't for my stupid self thinking that in grade 9, playing the flute was totally cool. I begged my dad to get me one, and he only agreed to if I took instrumental _all four years _of high school. I really didn't see at the time how much of a commitment that was, and am now stuck taking the course for the fourth time in a row.

Right now though, I'm a little grateful to my stupid grade 9 self, because Instrumental was a definite relief. I walked into the classroom where, right away, we were given our seating plan. Since I play the flute, I was closer to the right of the classroom. To my left are more flutes, to my right are clarinets, and behind me are the trumpets_—_and Naruto plays the trumpet. That's why instrumental was a relief.

"Hey Sakura!"

Speak of the devil.

"Hi Naruto, how was your summer?" I answered quickly, trying to fight down the stupid butterflies beginning to take flight in my stomach.

"Not bad. My friend moved over here in the summer though. Have you seen him yet?"

"Er, what's his name?" I asked, although I think I had a pretty good idea who it was.

"It's Sasuke_—_total bastard but pretty awesome."

_That_ explained why Sasuke was already so popular; he was friends with Naruto ( and it could also be the fact that Sasuke was, well _Sasuke_).

"Yeah, he's in my art class," I replied, trying to pretend that it wasn't a big deal that I saw him. But when a huge smile formed across Naruto's face, I couldn't help but smile as well.

"So you met that bastart, huh? Our families went on a cruise together this summer together and he was actually kind of fun to be around!" I now noticed that Naruto was even more tanned than he usually is_—_I guess he got that from the cruise. As Naruto passed by my seat, he stumbled and his hand landed on my shoulder for balance. A small tingle crawled up my arm to the place he touched and my mind went blank.

Sasuke who?

"Sorry Sakura!" Naruto apologized as he continued past me.

"Wha_—_oh! No problem." I giggled nervously. He was in his seat now and I had turned around to face him.

"Anyway," Naruto continued, "I don't know if Sasuke will stay though, at lunch, he was bitching about something or another," (No! Sasuke can't leave! I haven't even met him yet!) "I really hope he stays though_—_that fucker is like the king of parties!"

I knew I was right when I said he would flirt his way into some girl's pants. Someone that hot obviously goes to parties and has got to be another member of the bad shit list.

It was then that the teacher decided to start the class and I had to unfortunately take my attention away from a certain cute trumpet player. The first class consisted of nothing of interest_—_just more forms that needed to be signed and activity fees needing to be paid. In the end, Naruto and I had a handful of conversations_—_which was great, because I didn't think of Sasuke once during that time. So that was why instrumental was a relief_—_I had a breath of fresh air from Sasuke.

But I was about to suffocate from him in Biology.

When I walked into the science lab, I didn't notice him at first_—_he was blocked by a wall of people, most of them girls_—_one in particular I really didn't like: the vomit-inducing Karin.

Karin is the sort of girl who is somewhat popular, but all around fake.

She will do anything and everything she can to be popular_—_meaning she's dressed in the most skin-bearing clothing possible, she buys all the latest trends, goes to everyone's parties, and knows at least one vital piece of gossip about everyone. It's like she has a talent for tracking down anything 'cool' and making sure that whatever it is, it will contaminated by her. I once had to do a project with her in grade 10 and I basically had to do all the work while she was too busy being a bitch.

And it's not surprising to see her in the group surrounding Sasuke.

It was after I sat down though when I finally noticed him behind the ogling-girl-barrier. He was a lot closer this time, and _geez_, he is so gorgeous. I contemplated joining the other people surrounding him, but I had enough common sense to know that doing that would make me into another one of those stupid, giggling girls (cough_—Karin—_cough) and I definitely didn't want to be one of those. I might have been one of those girls in middle school, but that was before I realized how idiotic I must have looked.

I was once again daydreaming about Sasuke when Ino sat down beside me. Well, at least I had a friend to distract me from _him. _But _of course_ the first thing Ino said was:

_"God, isn't that new guy so freakin' gorgeous?!"_

"Yeah, I guess . . . " I think Ino continued to talk after my somewhat noncommittal response, but I wasn't really listening.

Instead I was off in my own world. My own Sasuke + Sakura world, to be exact. It was when the teacher entered a while later that I snapped out of my daze. Our biology teacher, Mr. Kakashi, was one of my favorite teachers. He made the work fun, didn't have a seating plan, and he also had a reputation for being late (which means more free time). Which he was right now_—_it was 10 minutes past the start of the period. There is also a rumor that the book he is always found reading is a porno book.

I'm not sure whether to believe that or not.

As Mr. Kakashi talked about this and that, I tried my hardest to resist the urge to stare at Sasuke, but then again, I never had much willpower. So my head slowly swiveled in the direction of Mr. Freakin' Gorgeous and I stared. I don't know how long I stared for, but Sasuke soon turned his head to have green eyes meet black. I snapped my head so hard in the other direction that I think I gave myself whiplash.

I forced myself to look out the window for the rest of the period.

During that time, I noticed it was raining. Which sucked. Rain is bad. Rain means wearing your hood which makes you look dorky. I bet Sasuke could pull off a hood and look good_—_and imagining Sasuke wearing a hood made me realize I was staring at him again.

I was really starting to not like this class.

When the bell did ring, I grabbed my books quickly and was determined to leave before I found myself dumbly staring at at _him _again. But Sasuke was heading out the door in front of me, and I couldn't resist the tantalizing temptation to "accidentally" brush against him while walking by too. So I did. I picked up my pace just a little more until I felt my shoulder abruptly connect with his. You know in instrumental when Naruto put his hand on my shoulder and there was a tingle?

Well this was like a shock.

I ended up dropping all of my books and papers (so, _so _embarrassing), and getting half trampled by the rest of the students who were leaving the classroom.

Well that was just great.

Ino didn't even help me pick up my books, I bet she went trailing after Sasuke, which I would never have done (well, not publicly).

After trudging to my locker to grab my raincoat, I trudged to my car, a silver Ford Escape. I wanted one of the smaller cars, but since I went to high school, I learned I was lucky to even have a car this nice.

Or have a car, period.

I was waiting in my Ford in the line to exit the parking lot when I saw Sasuke leave in his car. His navy blue _Maserati Diablo_ (which meant he must have a hell of a lot of money to buy a car like that _and_ cover the insurance). I watched him leave the parking lot and even after he was out of sight, I kept staring. I didn't even realize my foot was on the pedal until a loud "HONK!" made its way to my ears. On impulse, I slammed on the breaks (and swore). Good thing too (the breaking, not the swearing), or else I would have nicked the car ahead of me. I drove extra cautiously on the way home just in case any Sasuke_—_involved obstacles came my way.

I pulled into the driveway of my house next to my sister's car. The house I live in is yellow and white and pretty big. It had 5 bedrooms (two of which are used as my parents' offices), 4 bathrooms, 3 walk- in closets, 2 stories, and 1 hot tub in the backyard. I wanted a pool but my dad says that we have our very own pool 2 blocks away, also known as the ocean (Aw Dad, you are _so_ funny! Not.). Anyway, my room is on the second floor with one of the walk- in closets. I have a bathroom that connects to my sister's room, and a small ladder that leads to the attic (though I'm too scared to even look).

My room own is painted green (the same shade as my eyes) and the furniture is pink (the same shade as my hair)_—_my mom thought it would look cute at the time, but now I'm just sick of it, because I haven't changed it since grade 6.

By the time dinner came, I stayed quiet as my mind was off somewhere else thinking you-know-who. After dinner, I decided to try reading, and it helped a little, especially since Samuel came and sat on my lap. I figured that reading was the closest I was going to get on not thinking of Sasuke, so I read until 10:30 pm, which was when I was too tired to read anymore. I fell into a restless sleep listening to my parents arguing and my dad moving downstairs to sleep on the couch where Samuel left me to go join him.

But my sleep turned peaceful when I dreamt of a certain black- haired, black- eyed, completely beautiful Maserati Diablo driver.

* * *

**It's still being "renovated" so to say, so keeping checking back!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

The next morning I decided to make breakfast for my dad.

It must be hard sleeping on the couch all the time.

"So honey," he said as I gave him his waffles, "The people from my work are selling baseball tickets," my dad works for some business that… well I'm not quite sure what it does, but it's really rich and every once in a while they get baseball tickets. My dad and I always used to go to baseball games together but it happened less and less often when I got to high school- yet another thing that changed. "And I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"Sure dad, I'd love too," and I really did- I miss going to games with him. "So, when is it?"

"Well," he said in between gulps of orange juice, "It's not until a while later, but the tickets are going fast." He took another bite of waffles, "The breakfast is great hon, thanks, but you're going to be late for school if you stick around any longer."

"Oh Shoot!" I grabbed Samuel's water bowl, quickly filled it with water, grabbed a hunk of tuna or some sort of cat food, dumped it into the water bowl, set it down in front of a slightly disturbed Samuel, grabbed my bag and ran out to my car.

* * *

My day at school.

English Media: Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sas – hold up- Naruto just walked into the class. Naruto is in my class!

He smiled at me and then went to hang out with his own group of friends….. on the opposite side of the room…..

Math: Math is one of my more tolerable subjects- half because I'm actually good at it, half because Hinata sat right beside me. I told her about Samuel's progress last night and how I can't stop thinking about Sasuke. She only said that she "doesn't see why everyone likes him so much," and then stuttered something that sounded like Naruto being better. I was surprised by her comment- she hardly stuttered and she usually just gives a shy giggle to all of Ino's and my obsessive boy remarks. Oh well.

Lunch: Choji (one of the guys that we eat lunch with… he's very large… and hungry) ate my lunch when I was in the washroom, so I had to go down to the cafeteria and buy a new one. Ino went with me and we both discovered upon entering the caf that Sasuke was in there too. We were six places behind him in line, and we saw him buy a slice of pizza and tomato juice (I didn't even know we had tomato juice). When I got to the cashier, I bought a slice of pizza too, not just because Sasuke got one- I'm not that obsessed….. okay, maybe it is because Sasuke got pizza, but I didn't get the tomato juice. 1, I don't like tomatoes, and 2, that's just weird. Anyways, I got a Coke and when I turned around I realized I was alone. I didn't even realize that Ino disappeared until after I got my food. After scanning the cafeteria a couple of times, I finally spotted her over at Sasuke's table. She wasn't even talking- she was giggling with all the other fan girls around him. Nice friend, ditching me for a guy. So I left the caf without her.

Spanish: I didn't pay attention. Sasuke was in my class, and on my mind.

Chemistry: Rock Lee was in my class. He's one of those people who are completely unaware of how loserish and weird they are. I mean, he only wears green and has a bowl cut- how weird is that? Oh, and another thing about Lee that is very unfortunate for me- I'm pretty sure he has a crush on me.

Lee- Hey Sakura! Want to go on a date tonight?

Me- Uh, no thank you Lee.

Lee- Please!?

Me- Uh…. No sorry.

Lee- What about tomorrow night?

Me- No thanks.

Lee- The day after that?

Me- Um, I'm busy.

Lee- What about the day after that one?

Me- Sorry.

Yup. I'm pretty sure he has a crush on me.

After Lee's attempt at dating me, we watched the science safety video in class. It was boring so I doodled the whole time. Lee sat beside me and ever so frequently (meaning annoyingly) would compliment me on my drawings. They were stick people.

I went to Starbucks with Ino and Hinata after school. I bought a vanilla latte but only ended up taking a sip, because once we found our seats, a group of about 10 people from our middle school walked in- and one of them was Moji. I made sure that they didn't see us or else it would cause awkward conversations and hugging. But I couldn't help but notice that Moji had a girlfriend. I also couldn't help but notice that her name was Hana and she had pink hair. That was a little weird. Cherry Blossoms and Flower- both having pink hair. Ino gave me a knowing look. I ignored it, but I had to admit that I was a little sad that Moji had a girlfriend who was practically a reincarnation of me. I covered up my glum with an "I guess he just can't get enough of me" comment. I also made sure that Moji saw me as I walked out. I gave him enough time to see one of my best smiles, but not enough time to actually do anything about it.

I could hear the arguing of my mom and dad as I walked up the steps to the front door. The moment I walked in the house, my mom grabbed my wrist and took me right back outside again and into her car. The only thing she said was "We're going shopping." I didn't say anything back, but yelled to my dad in the house to feed Samuel.

It was late when I got back from shopping. I came home with about six overflowing bags worth of new clothes. I knew it was bad to take advantage of my mom's money when she's sad, but 1- my mom insisted, and 2- it makes her happy to help pick out clothes and watch me try them on- and I wanted to make her happy. It was a "girl's night out" as she would say.

After putting my new clothes away, I had a shower and straightened my hair, with Samuel following me the whole time- he does that when he's angry at me for leaving him for such a long time (though I think he secretly follows me because he misses me). Then I went on instant messenger (with Samuel sitting by the keyboard), where Ino was online.

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** hey forehead!

**Cherry Blossoms20:** ino- pig

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** wuts up?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** nm, u?

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** u wernt home wen I called, did u go NEwhere after starbux?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** ya, mom took me shopping

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** were they fightN again?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** ya (Only Ino and Hinata know about my parent's situation)

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** o. sorry

**Cherry Blossoms20:** don't be sorry- hey I got new clothes didn't I? ;)

**Blond****es-have-more-fun:** :O:O:O:O! Rite! Where did u go?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** mostly Hollister and Abercrombie

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** k, definitely wear a whole new outfit tm!

**Cherry Blossoms20:** already got it picked out

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** sweet, cant w8 2 c them

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **hows sam?

**Cherry Blossomes20: **same as usual

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **oh…

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **Omg sasukes n my English class, I sit so close 2 him!

**Cherry Blossoms20: **ya u told me yesterday

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **he is the HAWTTEST thing on earth

**Cherry Blossoms20:** omg I no, hes in my art and bio AND Spanish class

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **omg! LUCKY!

**Cherry Blossoms20: **haha I no!

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **but I call dibs on him!

**Cherry Blossoms20: **ch, ya rite

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **ya well u've got mr. foxy 2 look out for

**Cherry Blossoms20:** er, ya

**Cherry Blossoms20: **w/e

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** so hows that goin NEway?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** so-so, narutos in my instr. Class

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** aaaaannnnndddd?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** he talked 2 me a lot during it

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **and? and? and?

**Cherry Blossoms20:** thats it really

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **boring

**Cherry Blossoms20: **ya, well it wasnt

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **i no, totally kidding, im xited 4 u!

**Cherry Blossoms20:** thnx but I don't think NEthing will happen tho…

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **I no, ur 4head is to large 4 him

**Cherry Blossoms20: **: (

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **kidding again

**Cherry Blossoms20: **u better be

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **I am, I swear

**Cherry Blossoms20: **k

**Blondes-have-more-fun: **dude, wood talk more, but im 2 tired.

**Cherry Blossoms20:** really? Its so early

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** its like, midnite

**Cherry Blossoms20:** REALLY!?

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** yup

**Cherry Blossoms20:** I must have been shopping longer than I thot. Lol

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** lmao, k well c u tm

**Cherry Blossoms20:** ya, bi

**Blondes-have-more-fun:** bi

I signed off and crawled into bed with Samuel. I turned on my ipod and fell asleep with it still playing.

* * *

I was in an airplane; one of the really nice, big ones with a really awesome first class section. I took off my seatbelt and walked over to the washrooms. As I waited in line, the lady in front of me turned around and said,

"Oh, isn't she a beauty!"

I gave a shy smile, "Thank you."

"The resemblance is unmistakeable," the lady continued, "Same nose and lips as her mother."

"Really? I always thought she looked more like her father," I replied, and looked down at the black-eyed, black- haired baby in my arms.

It was then that I awoke to my alarm clock.

* * *

Now I'm in first period, art class, walking towards Sasuke Uchiha who was cleaning his paintbrushes at the sinks. I had the intent of actually meeting him, and it was my dream that inspired me to do it. Not that I had the intention of having his baby…

I mean, it's been three weeks since the first day of school and he's in three of my classes.

So I took a deep breath, went to the sink beside him, and started washing my brushes.

"Hi," I said, and angled my body towards him. He just glanced in my direction with a bored expression, then continued cleaning his brushes as if he hadn't heard me.

"Um, I'm Sakura." I only had one brush to clean, so after drying it off with paper towel, I leaned on the counter and waited for a response.

No response came.

"I'm, uh, in your Biology and Spanish class too."

Still no response.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi…. Uh, I guess it's a little too late for a 'welcome'. Heehee."

He finished cleaning his brushes, turned the tap off, and leaned on the counter almost mimicking my position. We stood there for what seemed like forever- I had a hard time preventing myself from letting my jaw drop and drooling at his perfect face and body- I had never been this close to him before. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Sakura," he said slowly.

My heart was about to burst out of my rib cage when he said my name. His voice was so much more amazing than what I had imagined it to be.

When he opened his eyes there was a trace of annoyance in them, "You're leaning on the paper towels."

I looked down, and indeed my elbow was on the paper towels. Oops.

"Oh, uh, woops!" I giggled nervously and blushed furiously. He just continued to stare at me with this passive, slightly annoyed expression. I manoeuvred myself away from the table and gave a small, "Bye" before scampering back to my work. Shit, shit, shit! Way to go, Sakura.

* * *

Sasuke's POV

_Fucking Fangirls_.

The Uchiha closed the door of his Maserati Diablo and inconspicuously gave the hood of his favourite car a small pat before being swarmed by squealing idiots. One in particular followed him almost everywhere.

"Sasuke!" the red-head shrieked, as he passed by. He knew her, even from before this school. He hadn't minded her before- that was because prior to his move she was what he could have called an acquaintance, maybe even a friend (or as close to a friend as Sasuke would have her). But she had changed- _he_ had changed.

"Karin" he answered back, maybe just to make her day, maybe just to make her shut up and leave him alone.

"Sasuke!" she squealed this time and the others around her groaned in jealously.

Nope- it was only Karin that had changed.

Tuning out the shrieks and giggles he roughly- but smoothly (always smoothly)- pushed his way through the crowd to the doors of the school where (unfortunately) he was greeted by a very loud "HEY!"

How he spent a summer and almost a month with such an idiot, he doesn't really know.

Sasuke answered by coolly raising an eyebrow.

"You coming tonight?!" Naruto replied.

Sasuke just stared at him, hoping that the blonde idiot would get the hint that he had no idea what he was talking about.

Finally it "clicked."

"Oh! Right! There's a party at the Sabaku's- they've got a fucking pool and everything! You comin'?!"

Again Sasuke just stared before giving a small smirk and walking through the doors. Why wouldn't he go to the party? Who in the right mind would pass up the chance at getting completely hammered? Plus, he hadn't gotten laid in a considerate amount of time.

_'And it's not like it'll be hard'_ he thought while shaking of some girl trying to hold his hand. Probably Karin.

To Sasuke, art class was absolutely pointless. It was odd though, how he cared so little about it, but was actually very talented at it (while the rest of the people in the class only take the course because they know it's a slacker period). Currently he was surrounded by a group of people who's voices he tuned out, and was discreetly sketching in his sketchbook.

The woman in the sketch was smiling gently, with long locks of hair framing her face. Most of the detail though, was in her eyes. They had a certain sheen that made her look as though she was about to cry.

"Ah, Sasuke. May I speak with you for a moment?" Ms. Lunids mellowed out over the crowd surrounding him. Sasuke set down his sketchbook and reluctantly followed her out of the classroom to the hall.

"Dear Sasuke," started Ms. Lunids.

Sakura's POV

I wouldn't say I'm a talented artist, nor would I say I'm absolutely horrible. I'm kind of half-way in between- good enough to get good marks, but not good enough to actually take art seriously. Sometimes though, I wish I was really good at drawing, so I wouldn't be in the predicament I 'm in now. Because in the picture I was drawing, I couldn't get the arm right. I was drawing some random person out of my imagination and her arm was unproportionate. I was getting very annoyed because I'd draw the arm wrong, erase it, and try again. But each time I tried, the paper would get thinner and thinner, making it messy and harder to draw. And then my pencil broke, heightening my frustration. I took a couple of deep breaths to control my inner self – who wanted to scream- then stood up to go sharpen my pencil.

I hate manual sharpeners- they take so long to sharpen- and that means you are standing beside the sharpener looking like an idiot because you've been standing there for a long time. So as I'm turning the handle, waiting for my pencil to become sharp, I looked around the room to see if anyone was watching me idiotically sharpening my pencil. That's when I noticed Sasuke's document journal, without Sasuke around it. I was tempted to look at it- I mean, it was open, alone, and only two feet away from me, so I took a quick peak. But there was so much detail that a quick peak wasn't enough. So I abandoned my pencil and, after quickly making sure no one was looking, took a more thorough peak. And by thorough I mean walking over, angling the book towards me, then looking through the whole thing

_WOW._

It was really good. I mean REALLY GOOD. The picture on the current page was of a woman (very pretty if I might add) with long blonde hair and a small smile. Her eyes were _stunning_. So much detail was put into them.

I flipped a couple of pages back to look at the other drawings he had done. They were also absolutely amazing as well. Maybe he is just one of those people who are insanely perfect at everything they do.

The first sketch I looked at was of a little girl, probably about five years old. She was sleeping on a couch with a stuffed cat in her hand and looked very similar to the blonde woman.

The second one I looked at was of a blonde haired man working on the wheel of what seemed to be a Maserati Diablo.

The third picture I looked at was of a woman with dark eyes and dark hair. Actually, it was overall a pretty dark picture. But it was also the most beautiful. I don't know why that picture was so unbelievably beautiful, but I couldn't take my eyes off of it- until I felt a presence looming over my shoulder and I turned around.

"Woah, that's amazing- did you do that?" the boy, another student in the class, asked.

"Me? Oh, um, no it's not mine I just-" I flushed, and as I tried to explain, another person looked over.

"Oh my god, did _you_ do that?" they asked.

"No," I replied, getting nervous over all of the sudden attention I brought to myself and the sketchbook, "it's not mine, um, it's Sas-"

"Hey! That's Sasuke's!" another exclaimed.

And that was basically the beginning of the end. Once Sasuke's name was mentioned it took a bare minimum of 5 seconds for everyone in the class to be crowded around me and the sketchbook, 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing and trying to get their hands on the apparent prized possession that I had in my hands. And since it was my fault this whole ordeal began, I felt that it was my duty to protect the object that had started it all, which meant trying for dear life to keep the sketchbook from slipping out of my grasp as others tried to take a hold of it. But I knew I was doomed when I looked through the grappling hands and shoving bodies at Hinata, still sitting at our table- her eyes weren't on the chaos surrounding me, they were on the door. Or rather, the person standing at the door.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

"And that is why I want your work to be in the upcoming show." Finished Ms. Lunids. Sasuke hadn't really been listening. He paid just enough attention though, to get the gist of it: Art Show.

"So? What do you say?" she continued. Sasuke would laugh at her eagerness, but instead gave a small nod (laughing wasn't his thing) before heading for the door, followed by an over excited art teacher.

As he approached the door he could hear excited chatter coming from within the room, and upon entering, he found an unexpected scene. First of all, the moment he passed through the doorway the noise level diminished intensely, second, a crowd that had surrounded _his_ seat dispersed, and third, it left a very stressed pink headed girl. He recognized her as the one who leaned on the paper towels- the girl from a couple of days ago, who tried to talk to him.

'Fucking paper towel girl." He thought as he made his way towards her.

The girl's back was facing him, her body alert, though only after she saw the shadow looming over her did she turn around.

Paper towel girl gave a small squeak of surprise (and embarrassment) and almost dropped the book in her hands- a book that just so happened to belong to him.

His sketchbook- and by the condition it was in now, it looked as frazzled as the girl before him.

Sasuke's eyes darkened.

"I-" she struggled for something to say, her mouth opening and closing fruitlessly. She rambled a few sentences before realizing that Sasuke didn't give a shit as to what she was saying, and then her chin trembled. "I'm sorry," she strained, before running back to her seat, letting the book clatter onto the chair. Trying not to care too much about the incident, Sasuke took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. That was until he saw the damage done to his sketchbook.

The sheets were bent and crumpled, his sketches were smudged and a page was even messily torn out.

"Fucking…" he started, inhaling another breath, but letting it go in a frustrated sigh- he couldn't make a scene, and he couldn't let the issue go, with all eyes on him the only thing he could do was leave. So he did, shoving his sketchbook into his bag and slinging it over his back. He didn't storm out, but his anger was channeled into every swift step he took in the hallway, not even stopping for his teacher who, bewildered by his hasty pace, called out "Sasuke? Where are you going?"

Having reached the fresh air of outside his shoulders relaxed and his fleet turned into a steady saunter. As he turned a corner into the back field, and another to behind the dumpster, he slipped his backpack from his shoulder and flung it sharply against the metal of the disposer, right beside where an intoxicated Gaara sat. Internally grateful, he took the joint offered to him by the red-head, and took the same path as his backpack. Now usually he wouldn't be near the eyeliner wearing freak, but he _was_ useful for certain… substances.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

It was hard to focus in English class that day. I didn't understand how such a simple act of peeking at his sketchbook would turn into a whole disaster- even after Sasuke left people were glancing at me throughout the whole class; I was practically hiding behind Hinata for that duration.

I mean, how could it happen? Am I just really stupid or do I just have really bad luck? And I never knew students could be so… _rabid_ when it comes to Sasuke and popularity.

Anyways, I was unusually quiet at lunch because of this. My friends knew it too, they all gave me wary looks, though I guess they were too uncomfortable to say anything about it.

_Earlier that lunch . . ._

I saw Sasuke walking in the hall after I got out of class. He was alone (which is very rare), probably going to the cafeteria. I walked up to him, hoping to apologize about making him angry. I knew he wasn't the most sociable person, but it's better safe than sorry.

"Sasuke?" I asked timidly, and cautiously approached him. He looked at me with glazed, blood-shot eyes. What was wrong with him? I started to fiddle nervously with the hem of my shirt.

"Um, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened earlier in art class and I'm-"

"Fuck off." He stated bluntly.

"Uh, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry about the whole sketchbook thing" I said, my voice waning at his reply. Is he this rude to everyone?

His only response was to glare at me, so I continued, "I know it wasn't even my place to be looking through it, and I know it was my fault that everyone saw it and that it got ruined and I know it was your property and I should have asked, but I didn't know that the whole class would start rioting, you know? It got way out of proportion and I don't know if…" I paused; Sasuke was acting a little odd, was he even listening to what I was saying?

"I don't know if…" I was about to continue- and I took a step forward to try and regain his attention- but as soon as I moved, he stumbled backwards.

"I…" he started, looking at me, though it seemed as if his eyes weren't focusing- as if I wasn't really there. "told you to fuck off." He finally continued, his eyes now trying so hard to focus on me.

I figured it out now- the unfocused, blood shot eyes- he was high. It changed a lot about the situation we were in- I've never talked to someone that was high before, so I had no idea how to handle him. Well, at least his odd behavior had reason, but who would be so stupid to get high and then go _back_ to school?

I stood there facing Sasuke for at least a full minute while he looked around, trying to hub his vision, swaying ever so slightly.

"Um, maybe you should-" the moment he heard my voice his eyes darted to my face, and then a 'heh' escaped from his lips as he tried to stumble pass me.

"Sasuke-" some sort of instinct or _something_ ran through me and at that moment I turned to grab his arm, maybe to get him to really listen to me, or maybe I was just concerned about his well-being.

I flinched at the contact with his bare skin and the glare that came along with it. Faster than I was expecting, his hand flung out and knocked mine away, my other hand went to my heart in shock.

"Fuck off." He said slowly, forcefully, and then continued walking down the hall, breathing out a "bitch" as he turned away. I stood, frozen, and watched him until he turned a corner. I was trying to fight the tears in my eyes as I thought to put together what exactly just happened.

_Back to the present_

Finally, Hinata took the risk.

"Um, S-Sakura? You seem awfully q-quiet t-today." She stated, though it sounded more like a question.

"I'm just not feeling well, I guess." And I bet it looked like it too, I'm usually more animated. Plus, I didn't even sympathize or anything with Ino when she complained her schedule had to be changed and she was switched out of my biology class. I think if I weren't so zoned out, I would have said something triumphant about how I would get more alone time with Sasuke because Ino wasn't there.

But I wasn't in the mood which Hinata caught onto, and seeing as I wouldn't have an angry outburst, she continued, "Maybe y-you should go h-home."

I though about that for a moment. If I went home, then I wouldn't have to see Sasuke in Spanish class. It's sort of funny, how before I would want to be near Sasuke, but today, I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

"Yeah, I think I might go home." I answered, and then pulled out my cell phone dialing then my Dad's number.

The phone rang and then a voice answered, I'm guessing the secretary. "Atlantic Beach Corporation, how may I help you?"

* * *

In the end, I was allowed to go home, I just had to sound sick on the phone, and my Dad approved.

I was paranoid, walking through the hallway, afraid that I would see Sasuke again. I must have looked paranoid too, because, as I walked past the cafeteria, Naruto jogged up beside me. That immediately changed my somber mood, and I relaxed a little.

"Hey Sakura, you feeling alright?"

"Um, yeah, just feeling a little sick," I replied as the butterflies in my stomach decided to come out and play, "I'm going home now."

"Oh, well I can walk you to your car!" he replied- I should get sick more often if it means Naruto is involved.

We both were quiet as we continued through the hall until Naruto broke the silence. "Something's wrong with my time table, so I'm getting a new schedule," he stated, trying to start conversation.

"Oh, you know Ino? That happened to hers too… What are your new classes?" I asked, glad that he broke the silence, and hoping that he was in more of my classes.

"I dunno, I get that tomorrow."

"Cool." I answered, and we fell back into silence again. I should have been exuberant that Naruto was walking with me, but the incident with Sasuke was gnawing on my insides. I used the unlock button on my car keys when we reached the parking lot, and the flash of the headlights matched the bulb in my mind- I had an idea on how to solve the Sasuke situation.

"Um, Naruto?" I started.

He turned to me with a smile that made the butterflies in my stomach go insane, "Yeah?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could apologize to Sasuke for me?" the last part came out in a rush, so it took him a couple of seconds to register my words. When he did though, his smile turned into a small frown.

"Uh, sure Sak… but why?" he asked, turning serious. Couldn't he just say 'yes'? Now I have to explain everything. This is going to be awkward- especially because I was trying not to grin at the fact that he used a nickname for me.

"Well, it's just this whole thing with his sketchbook and stuff, and he got really mad, the class was really out of control, I mean, I dunno..." I explained nervously, giving as little detail as possible.

"Okay, I guess… but it's probably not your fault, I mean he can be an idiot." He shook his head, "He has one hell of a temper, I mean, are you sure you want me to apologize to him? I could punch him in the face instead?" Was that supposed to be a joke? I let out a hesitant giggle to fill in the stillness, and he chuckled in return. "Sure, I'll apologize for you, but uh, you know…" I looked up at him when he trailed off, "is there a reason why, uh, you can't?"

Right... How do I explain this?

"Well I tried, but um, when I did, he was, um," we reached my ford and Naruto opened the door for me. I gave a small 'thank you' before getting inside, then continuing in a rush, "hewashighandgotevenangrier."

He raised an eyebrow, "…What?"

"Um, never mind." I couldn't tell him what really happened- who rats out their crush's best friend? Plus, what if Sasuke got even more angrier than he already was?

"Come on, tell me, please?" he gave a small pout as he asked and I tried not to laugh.

But I was determined, and didn't fall for his very, very (very) cute pout and puppy dog eyes. "No, it's fine, really," and I gave him a small smile in return before looking away.

"Are you sure?" he seemed unconvinced.

"Yeah, positive." I said, and then started the car.

"Okay…"

"And thanks for walking me to my car," I continued.

A grin spread across his face, "No problem! Feel better Sakura!"

"I will, see you later," And after exchanging small waves and 'byes', he closed the door and I pulled out of the parking lot.

Sasuke's POV

"Sasuke you- you idiot!"

The Uchiha looked up from his lunch to find a fuming Naruto storming towards him. The fangirls surrounding his table made room to let Naruto through, before returning to their gossip.

"Can I speak with you for a minute?" the blonde ground out.

Sasuke gave a "Hn." Before walking out of the cafeteria and sliding coolly past the fangirls who surrounded him- almost thankful to Naruto for getting him away from them.

The moment they exited the caf, Naruto started his rant. "What happened to Sakura? What were you thinking? What the fuck did you do?!"

Sasuke blinked slowly before answering, "Sakura? Who the f-"

"Yeah, Sakura! You know, pink hair, green eyes? In your art class? She said you got mad at her for some stupid sketchbook thing!"

It occurred to Sasuke that Naruto was talking about 'paper towel girl'.

Well, that changed everything.

"Hn." Was his reply.

Okay, maybe not everything.

"Hn!? Is that all you're going to say? What happened when she tried to apologize?" Naruto continued- and Sasuke could clearly see the straining tendons along the blonde's forearm leading to a clenched fist- was he about to get punched in the face?

Sasuke ignored the fist and thought about the last part. Why couldn't he remember? Oh. That's right. He gave a shrug, acting nonchalant, knowing full well that this answer could have him walking away with a possible black eye. "I was high."

"You were… you were high? Ugh! Why are you such a fucking- ugh. You are ruining my chances with her! Do you think that she'll go out with me now that my best friend is a fucking idiot?!"

The Uchiha ignore the insult, but focused the rest of what the blonde said- and the clenched fist that slightly raised at his last remark.

_Go out with? If she wasn't so annoying I never would have known she existed. _

"She doesn't even do shit, idiot." Sasuke finally answered.

"You don't get it? You just-" Naruto gave a frustrated sigh, the clenched fist finally relaxing, "You owe me some serious ramen or something to make up for this." And with that the blonde stormed off.

_Hn._

* * *

_—Sakura—_

In art class a couple of days later, we had to sit in a circle and draw the still life at its center. I have to admit it was pretty boring- no one talked or moved around much- but it did solve the Sasuke dilemma; I could remain as invisible as possible.

We started reading Macbeth in English. Most of the class I spent doodling, because I have absolutely no idea how to understand Shakespeare.

I was back to my normal self at lunch- chatty and animated. Ino though, would try and bring up the topic of Sasuke Uchiha (god she was so obsessed with him- well, more so than I was). Every time she started to talk about him, I would quickly change subject- I don't know what I'd say if we started openly talking about him. Probably something really embarrassing.

Instrumental came next. Naruto and I talked a lot more that period. We had a supply-teacher who didn't know how to conduct, so most of the class went by without us actually playing. Our conversation started off with me thanking him for walking me to my car the other day, and him telling me about his chat with Sasuke.

"He is such a little fucker. I apologized and he didn't even remember what had happened. So I'm pretty sure he put it in the past or something like that." Is what Naruto said to me. So I didn't have to worry about _that_ anymore.

Nearing the end of instrumental, our conversation turned to his schedule changes, which he received today.

"So do you know what you have next?" I asked. My mind had only one thought- _Please say science with Kakashi, please say science with Kakashi, please say science with Kakashi._

"Uh, I think I have science with… Kakashi." He confirmed as he looked at his timetable. I practically heard my inner-self screaming out of joy. I didn't though. Instead I replied,

"Really? That's my next class." I told him, biting my lip to hold back the huge smile that wanted to work its way across my face.

"Awesome! That's so-" he was cut off by the bell, signaling the end of class. "Well, maybe we could walk together?!" A grin appeared on his face as he said this.

"Yeah, hold on, just let me get my stuff together," I replied, finally smiling back.

We entered the science room and almost immediately Naruto dragged me over to a seat. I was so overwhelmed by the tingling sensation that came from his hand on my wrist that I failed to notice exactly where we sat- which was right next to Sasuke Uchiha. Well that was just fantastic. I know, he and Sasuke are like, best friends and they should be allowed to sit together, but did Naruto already forget the incident with Sasuke and me earlier? Or maybe I was just making a big deal out of nothing? Considering the latter and the fact that it would be rude to leave (and the additional fact that I didn't really want to leave), I stayed seated on Naruto's right, while Sasuke was on his left.

The class started after Mr. Kakashi made an excuse as to why he was 10 minutes late and after he welcomed Naruto to the class. Then he briefly talked about how he planned to do the culminating activity this year: Instead of having one huge project completed at the end, there will be a bunch of smaller assignments completed throughout the year. The project would also be done in groups of three that Mr. Kakashi chooses. He then went on to our usual lesson. I would pay attention, but every so often I would look over to Naruto or Sasuke. At one point, Naruto looked as if he had fallen asleep. Sasuke on the other hand, had his eyes closed and his arms crossed. I thought he was sleeping too until one eye opened to catch the person whom he felt looking at him… which was me.

I came home that day to find my mother actually happy for once. Apparently, my sister, Puriti, had called and was coming down for a visit in a couple of weeks. She was now attending the University of Miami, so we didn't get to see her as often, though she left one of her cars here for when she did see us. I would have used her car instead of my big Ford Escape, but she has memorized every mile on it and would have beat the shit out of me if I even touched it. Anyway, it was nice to come home to a more pleasant atmosphere.

But change seems to be a constant ideal in my life, so happy soon turned into a yelling mom, a frustrated dad, and me escaping to Ino's house (after spending a half hour trying to get Samuel to eat- I think all the yelling made him nervous).

Ino lives fairly close to me, about a 7- 10 minute drive away. Her house is basically the size of mine, though she has a bit more luxury than I do- all because of her parents owning this flower shop that all these celebrities like to order from. For starters, she has a really nice Paseo Convertible and a walk-in closet twice the size of mine (the perks of growing up in a sheltered, upper-class community).

When I was at Ino's, we mostly watched TV and did our homework. Her house was actually a pretty peaceful place compared to my house, which was perfect to do homework in. Normally I would be doing my homework on my own time, but with all the constant drama in my house, I was starting to fall behind. Also, Ino can kind of understand Shakespeare, which is better than anywhere I'll get on my own.

When I told her about science class and how Naruto dragging me to sit beside him and Sasuke, she flipped, and not just because she was mad that she got switched out of that class. Ino always knew about my crush on Naruto, but never thought about anything of it (lately she has been too preoccupied with her fantasies of her and Sasuke). According to Ino though, intentional physical contact means that the person really likes you, and that you should expect them asking you out in (at the most) two weeks time. I didn't believe her- when has she ever known about relationships? She's never even been in one. Oh well. That's Ino for you.

I made sure I got home late enough that I missed the eye of the storm (my parent's argument), but early enough that I didn't disturb my dad who was probably on the couch. Then, after quickly checking my Facebook, I had a shower, straightened my hair, and got dressed in my pajamas. Then I went to sleep listening to my ipod after spending some quality time with Samuel- who was mad at me because I left him with my yelling parents.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

I woke up at 6:30 am to my ipod still blaring in my ears. How the battery survived the night, I don't know. I stayed in my bed for a couple of minutes hoping to fall back asleep, but then After getting dressed, I went to the kitchen for breakfast- making sure to be extra-quiet as to not wake my dad on the couch. It was almost 7:00 when I finished my pop tarts and orange juice- that meant 2 more hours until school started.

To waste some more time, I woke up Samuel and tried to get his eating over with. It was a successful time-waster- he ended up taking one and a half bites of his food (before meowing loudly for his water).

I then decided to hang in my room then since it was only 7:30. I plugged my ipod in and went on my computer. After updating the songs on it, I quickly checked my Facebook. I still haven't added Sasuke yet. I think I should be on better terms with him first. It was 8:00, and with nothing else to do, I went into the second floor TV room and surfed the channels. I ended up watching Spongebob Squarepants. I was surprised by how funny it actually was, and by how much I laughed. It was the episode where Squidward makes a marching band for the super bowl.

At 8:30, I decided to go to school. I didn't have to worry about being alone when I got there because Hinata is always there early. I stopped by Starbucks and got myself a vanilla latte, and Hinata a hot chocolate- she doesn't like coffee.

I arrived at the school and the halls were practically empty. Hinata thanked me for the hot chocolate, and we started talking about random things until Ino and Choji arrived. I went to the cafeteria when my stomach growled; I guess I was still hungry- my breakfast _was_ pretty early. I got a chocolate chip muffin, and as I was about to leave the caf, someone called my name,

"Sakura!"

I knew that it was Naruto calling my name, but I pretended to look for the owner of the voice before 'finding' him beaming and gesturing for me to join him at a table. I was a little hesitant- I knew the names of the two other people sitting with him- but I didn't _know_ them. All I really knew about them was that Tenten always wore her hair in two buns and was relatively nice, and Neji who was really smart and was Hinata's cousin.

"Hey Sakura!" he greeted once I was settled in the seat beside him. I gave a small 'hi' and nibbled on my muffin. "You know Tenten and Neji, right?" he continued. I nodded and exchanged 'hello's with them.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I mean, I know they're just people, but they are popular people- at the top of the high school food chain, and I didn't want to mess up.

"We were just talking about Katana, you know the band?" asked Naruto.

"Uh, yeah. They're pretty cool." I answered. Truthfully, I didn't really like them- they were too hardcore for my taste.

"Yeah! So there is this concert in 2 days and-" he was cut off by someone else's voice.

"Sakura! My Flower!"

I groaned in response to the all too familiar greeting, trying to look cool in front of Naruto, Neji, and Tenten, though on the inside, all I could think was: _this can not be happening, this can not be happening_.

But it was, and it was Lee.

He sat down on the other side of me with a flourish. "How are you Sakura! You look as beautiful as ever!" he continued. I buried my face into my hands while the other's watched with raised brows.

"Hi Lee." I mumbled through my fingers.

"My Cherry Blossom! May I escort you to dinner tonight?"

"No thank you Lee." By this time I was mortified, and my face was beat-red.

"What about tomorrow?" he asked leaning towards me.

"Um, I don't think I'm free for the rest of the week- I mean month, actually." I replied, hoping he would leave me alone.

"Oh Sakura," he said, taking one of the hands from my face into his, "I will wait for you for eternity!" Uh oh. I looked over at the other three at the table. Naruto had a small frown, while Neji and Tenten had their mouths hung open. I mouthed 'help me' with a pleading look on my face.

"Uuuhhhhh…" Naruto started, "Hey Lee, isn't that Mr. Gai over there?"

"Gai?!" Lee immediately stood up and ran in the direction of Naruto's pointed finger (which was thankfully pointing out of the caf). But before Lee left completely, he called back, "Until next time, my flower!"

I looked at the others hoping they didn't think I was some freak. But they just burst out laughing (well, Tenten and Naruto did- Neji is too cool for that, I guess). I giggled nervously, trying to fit in though still really embarrassed.

"It looks like Sasuke's not the only one with a fan club." Neji said lowly to Tenten.

"Oh my god," I mumbled, and buried my face into my hands again as they snickered at my misfortune.

"So you were bluffing, right?" asked Naruto, taking on a slightly serious- though still humorous- façade.

"What?" I looked up again.

"You were bluffing, what you said to Lee? You're free this month?"

"Um, yeah, why?" Oh my god- is he doing what I think he's doing?

"Well there's this concert and-" Naruto was cut off by the five-minute bell. I took this as to excuse myself from embarrassing myself even further in front of Naruto, even though I think he was about to do something that I never thought would happen in a million years.

"I've got to go," I said, "I haven't even gotten my books out of my locker." And with that, I stood up, waving goodbye, and jogged out of the caf, even though I could have walked with Naruto because he's in my first-period as well. But I didn't leave before hearing a "Hey, is she knew to the school?" by Tenten, an "I don't know, she's pretty cool though," by Neji, and an "I think she came here in grade 10 or something?" by Naruto. It just goes to show how popular I really am, considering the fact that I went to the school since grade nine. I ducked my head as I left, my self esteem degrading by the minute.

I almost was late for English Media- the anthem played like two seconds after I got in to the room. I've never been late- and though it's kind of nerdy- I'm proud of it.

Much to my dismay though, I found myself ignoring Naruto's eager looks at me from across the room. I didn't really want to but by the incident that happened this morning, I was to embarrassed to even make eye-contact with him. I even rushed out of class when it ended just so he couldn't catch up to me.

Math was absolutely fantastic. Not.

Hinata and I were separated because we were talking too much, so I had to sit beside someone I didn't even know.

Lunch was just as bad as math. My Sprite exploded when I opened it, spilling all over my top. I spent most of the lunch in the girl's bathroom, holding my shirt under the dryer- and when I came back, Ino talked non-stop about Sasuke. I can't get him out of my head if someone is blabbering about him in my ear for about an hour.

Chemistry was, well, Chemistry. Not very exciting, pointless, extremely boring. We were stuck learning about whether or not an acid turns some type of weird paper blue. And though chemistry was boring, there was something much more interesting outside the window- apparently Naruto and Sasuke have gym class together because they, along with their whole class, were running laps around the school- Naruto and Sasuke running at top speed- head to head.

I found Naruto leaning against my locker when school ended, a little out of breath and sweaty from his previous class. The fact that he was actually waiting for _me_ personally ruled out his not-to-pleasant physical state easily. I didn't even know he knew where my locker was. I didn't ask either. I also decided that 6 hours from the incident this morning is enough avoiding him (and that I should stop being a wuss). So, I greeted him with a,

"Hey"

"Hi!" he smiled and my knees weakened (I guess the whole I-just-came-back-from-working-out thing had a certain charm to it), then he moved out of the way so I could open my locker. "Are you doing anything this Friday?" he asked.

My eyes widened and my jaw slackened. Was Naruto asking me out? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my g-

"Sakura?" Naruto's voice brought me from my stupor.

This Friday? "Ummm…" Today was Tuesday. Friday was in three days. "Yeah, I think so, why?" As if I didn't know!

"Well I've got concert tickets to Katana, and I was…" he fidgeted a little uncomfortabely, "I was wondering if you would like to come?"

I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it! Oh my god! Naruto asked me out! Oh my god! My inside was victory dancing, but my outside remained calm. "Like a date?" I asked, my lips twitching into a smile.

"Yeah," he grinned, "So, are you coming?"

"I would love to, thanks!"

"Awesome! I'll pick you up at 5:30!"

My smile widened. "Cool."

"Kay, I'll see you tomorrow!" And he waved goodbye and jogged away, hopefully to the showers.

I stood there for about 5 minutes, stupefied- not believing it actually happened- and also not really realizing that he didn't even know where my house was either. But that's okay- I'm going on a date with Naruto. Finally, I let out a squeal, earning a couple stares, and ran to find Ino, or Hinata, or somebody to spill all of this out.

I found Ino walking to her locker (which is practically beside mine) and bounced (literally) over to her.

"InoInoInoInoInoInoInoInoIno!" I squealed and she looked at me as if I had a third eye. "Naruto asked me out on a date and I said yes and on Friday I'm going to go see a Katana concert with him and that's only three days away and Naruto asked me out! Can you believe it!?" I said rapid-fire, still bouncing. When she absorbed the new- found knowledge, she joined me in my squealing and bouncing.

Suddenly, she stopped.

"Do you have the perfect outfit to wear?"

I stopped too- and after thinking for like five seconds, I answered with a "no".

"Then we have to go shopping!" and she grabbed my arm and dragged me off.

* * *

After 2 hours of shopping, we found the perfect outfit. A fashionable red dress- nice enough for a first date, but casual enough for a concert.

As we passed the Chanel store on the way out of the mall though, I saw the perfect purse to go with my perfect outfit. It was a white shoulder bag with a big, black Chanel logo on the side. I stopped Ino and went into the store. It was like love at first sight (which seems to be happening a lot recently) because I wanted that bag really, really badly. I checked the price- it was 500- which was no problem, I'd just ask my parents for the money.

"Hey Dad," I said as I sat on the couch beside him. It had been about half an hour since Ino and I got back from shopping.

"Hi hun, how was shopping?" he replied, taking his eyes off of the TV screen to look at me.

"Good, good… so there is this bag at the Chanel store that is really nice." I continued.

"How much was it?" he turned his head back to the TV (he was watching his favourite, golf).

"Ummmm, 500," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"I guess I could get it for you, if you really want it." He answered, his eyebrows raising briefly at the price. "You couldn't find something else?"

"But dad, it was like, love at first sight," I replied, desperate.

"You can't find er, love, in another store- another less expensive store?"

"Dad," I started, "I really, _really,_ want it," and then I hurried my begging because I heard footsteps coming up the stairs- which could only be my mom, ready to suck the fun out of everything. "Please, daddy? Pleeease?" I clasped my hands together to emphasize my need.

"Well," he sighed, " I guess I…"

"Please, please, please?"

"Yeah, I guess I can get it for you..."

"Really Dad? Thanks!"

"Absolutely not," my Mother snapped, entering the room.

I was a little surprised on how stealthy she was, but that didn't stop me from complaining.

"But Mom!" I whined- I was so close to getting that purse!

"If you want to get something, buy it yourself," she replied.

"But I don't want to spend my money in my bank account! Not for that!"

"Then make the money," she replied coolly.

"Mom!"

"Honey," my Dad started.

"Don't," she said sternly, "I want _our_ daughter to learn some responsibility." And she said 'our' in a really snooty way.

Ugh! Why was my Mom being such an idiot! This is so not fair!

"Alright, alright," my Dad finally agreed. I couldn't believe he turned to the dark side, especially so quickly- I guess he didn't want to start a fight in front of me.

"Good." My Mom said, and left the room after giving both of us a rather suspicious look.

When she was out of sight (finally), my Dad leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Just come up with 100, sweetie. I'll take care of the rest."

"Yes!" I cheered, and then remembering to be quiet so my mom wouldn't hear I added in a whisper, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" So my Dad isn't part of the dark side after all.

"How are you going to get the money?" my Dad asked, and my victory was put on pause for a moment.

"Um…" I didn't have a job- I didn't even have a resume. So the only option I could think of was, "babysitting?"

My dad seemed to agree, probably knowing it was the only way I could get money considering it was, well, me. "Okay, I'll ask around work, tell them that you're available."

I could count on my dad for anything. "Thanks Daddy!" I gave him a kiss on the cheek and skipped to the kitchen to feed (meaning tried to feed) Samuel.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

I gave my mom the silent treatment in the morning, but I don't think she noticed. I was extra sure, though, to talk to my dad a lot and make sure he would tell people at work about my babysitting thing. Also, feeding Samuel was relatively easy this morning- he still didn't have much at all, but a couple of easy bites are better than nothing. I wonder if this is like, a good sign or something.

Hinata and I talked for most of art class. I told her about my purse, my mom being stupid, and most importantly, my date with Naruto. What was weird though, was that she seemed to force her excitement about it. What was even weirder, was that I caught Sasuke Uchiha staring at me.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Holy Fuck. Paper towel girl talked non-stop, and really loudly too. He could hear her from all the way across the room. It was so _damn_ annoying, and so hard to tune her out because her voice would pierce through everyone else's. Sasuke managed to drown her out at one point with his ipod, but found himself listening to her conversation. Especially when she started talking about a date. A date with Naruto to be exact.

He couldn't believe the idiot actually asked her out, and she even said yes! Wait, why did he care? He didn't care- well that was what he told himself. He was just peeved. Why? One, she doesn't look like the type to party, two, she was probably a spoiled brat, three, she wasn't anything close to popular (even though she _is_ mildly attractive… only mildly) and four, she will be spending more time with Naruto, and more time with Naruto meant more time around him.

And she was _paper towel girl_ for fuck's sake! Why would Naruto go out with paper towel girl? Oh right, because Naruto is an idiot.

Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh and turned the volume of his ipod almost to its maximum. But as he continued to work in his sketchbook, he found his gaze returning constantly to paper towel girl, sizing her up- seeing if there was some hidden factor that he somehow missed in _why_ Naruto chose _her_ of all people. And then, while he was sizing her up, she caught him looking at her. And their gaze connected.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Her face flushed a deep red.

He raised his other eyebrow.

She flushed an even deeper red.

He smirked when she looked away and tried to busy herself with a non-existent mark on her skirt. But before he could do, think, or say anything else- a thought hit him.

_What the hell? Am I… Was I flirting with her?!_

His nose scrunched infinitesimally and he looked back down at his own work.

_Fuck no._

And as he tried to convince himself that he wasn't, in fact flirting with her, his eyes flickered up once more to paper towel girl.

Where this time _he_ caught _her_ staring at him- which really isn't so unlikely when you consider that it's Sasuke Uchiha as the object of focus.

This time, he glared at her- just to intimidate her, to make her realize that she's not _worthy,_ that she's not _mildly_ attractive, that he _wasn't _flirting with her (because he _wasn't_).

And this time, he saw the glimmer of- you could call it _fear_- in her eyes as she looked away for good. Sasuke smirked inwardly, satisfied by her reaction, and by the realization that he could actually work again.

Sasuke had Business after art and instead of listening to the teacher's lesson, he closed his eyes and sat there, bored. He also noticed, before he closed his eyes, that paper towel girl's friend- the small, shy, panicky one- was also in his business class.

Sasuke didn't feel like acknowledging anyone at lunch- not that he usually did. Instead, he tuned out the whole world completely. That is, until paper towel girl entered the cafeteria. She came with a friend, a blonde one, and they waited in line to get their lunch. Just like in art class, though, her voice penetrated through the wall he created between himself and the world. God, she was so annoying. He found himself glaring in her direction until she left- then he continued to tune everything out again.

The class was supposed to be reading MacBeth in English. Even though Sasuke understood Shakespeare, he didn't care for it. Besides, he had already read the book. So instead of reading, he cleared his mind- almost preparing himself for next period- Biology- where paper towel girl and her annoying voice would be. She would most likely be sitting near him – if she was going out with Naruto, she would sit with him, and Naruto would sit with Sasuke. Which was why he was mentally preparing himself- if he would be sitting beside the world's biggest idiot, and paper towel girl (who's voice would only have to travel mere inches to assault Sasuke's ears), he had to be in some sort of state of calm. So Sasuke walked to Biology (which was more like death row) with a completely blank mind and expression.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

"Come sit over here!" Naruto said as he led me over to the back of the classroom- where Sasuke was again. Naruto sat on his left and gestured for me to sit beside him, so the only thing between me and Sasuke was Naruto himself- not good considering the look he gave me earlier that morning.

Mr. Kakashi was late as usual, and it was very awkward during the time before he came. Naruto and I would talk, but then feel bad that Sasuke was left out. Bur when we did try to involve him, he'd answer with a "Hn" or an "Aa." Or even nothing at all. Then, to make things worse, Lee decided to sit on the other side of me. And even though I told him that Naruto had already asked me out, he _still_ persisted.

Finally, Mr. Kakashi came in. After taking attendance, he went straight to explaining the culminating activity.

"So I believe I already told you about the basic idea," he started, "But I have yet to assign the groups. Once I have done that, your group can sign up for your topic. The overall theme will be the human body, you just have to focus on a certain part. Now to assign your groups..." He quickly counted the number of people in the class, "So each is a group of three, and I'll just make the groups by where you are sitting." Then he started counting off groups – or teams - as he liked to call it. Wait- if it's by where we are sitting, then that means we are probably grouped with the people we were sitting beside. Uh oh. Lee was sitting beside me. That would be A LOT of time spent with Lee. Shit. _Please, don't put me in the same group with Lee._

He counted teams 1 and 2, and Lee looked at me with a hopeful smile.

_Not with Lee_.

He counted team 3, and Lee's hopeful smile turned into a grin.

_Not with Lee. I'll do anything!_

He counted team 4, and Lee started to shift his chair a little closer to mine.

_Not Lee Not Lee Not Lee Not Lee Not Lee Not Lee Not Lee Not Lee._

He counted team 5- he was getting closer and closer to where I sat, and his smile was looking quite creepy now.

_Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please._

YES! Mr. Kakashi put Lee in team 6- and I wasn't in it!

So team 7 was me, Naruto, and Sasuke. I looked at Naruto who pumped his fist with an "alright!", while Sasuke just sat there. Wait- I'm in Sasuke's group? That's not good. 1, I seem to drool over him every time he's near (even worse because I'm apparently dating Naruto), and 2, last time I checked, he was kind of mad at me.

Mr. Kakashi finally finished assigning all 9 groups, and then he continued to speak, "Now that the groups are settled, I'll let you pick your topics. Just choose a part of the body to focus on and come tell me. Then I'll give you the assignment instructions."

I think Lee was weeping about me not being in his group, but I ignored him. Instead, I turned to Naruto and Sasuke.

"So, um, what part should we do?" I asked. Naruto thought about this for a bit and frowned in concentration; Sasuke didn't do anything. Then, Naruto started to comically stroke his chin with his hand. That made me giggle a bit. He smiled in return, then looked at the hand he was using, and his face lit up.

"Hey! How about the hand!" he said, holding it up.

"Sure, that sounds good." I answered. Sasuke's reply was "Hn."

"Awesome!" and Naruto ran up to Mr. Kakashi. He came back with the assignment instructions once our idea was approved. I took the paper from him and read it out loud.

Draw your focus from a view outside of the body and label.

Draw your focus' muscle build up and label.

Draw your focus' bone, vein, and artery structure and label.

First presentation.

Research the basic function of your focus.

And _blah blah blah blah_ all the way up to number 18.

"Wow. That's a lot of work," Naruto stated.

"…Yeah, it's going to take a lot of time to get done." I answered filling the silence between the three of us.

As if hearing me, Mr. Kakashi said, "I suggest you and your team get together once or twice a week to work on this, so you can divide the work time easily. Oh, and the due dates are on the back of the assignment sheet. Now, I'll leave you guys to sort out your schedules and work times with your team mates." Then, after sitting down, Mr. Kakashi pulled out his pervert book and started to read.

After a couple of moments of silence between our group, and me ignoring Lee, Sasuke spoke. Yes, Sasuke actually spoke.

"If we get together every 6 days, that gives us 3 meetings before each due date," he said. Wow. Sasuke calculated it that quickly? And all in his head? Smarty Pants.

"Uh… Okay." Naruto answered. He seemed as surprised as me, that Sasuke actually initiated conversation.

"So, our first meeting is… Tuesday?" I asked. Sasuke nodded in confirmation. Well he was being quite social today… for Sasuke that is. I guess he's not mad at me anymore- or whatever he was feeling when he glared at me this morning.

"Cool." I replied, with a lack of anything better to say.

"Who's place?" asked Naruto, "Can't be mine, 'cause my house is getting renovated," I didn't miss the millisecond look the two guys shared at _renovated_, "unless you want to work in the garage." And it definitely can't be at my place, I don't want people to know my parents are in a constant war, or that I have an anorexic cat. Both are pretty embarrassing.

"Um… It can't be at my place… sorry." I said.

Naruto and I looked at Sasuke.

I hope he doesn't think this is some scheme for me to get to go to his house (which isn't a half-bad idea).

He rolled his eyes to look away from us, and let out a sigh, before reluctantly grunting, "Hn."

Oh my god- I get to go to Sasuke's house!

* * *

_—Sakura—_

I got home a little later than usual. When I walked in the front door, the phone was ringing- the caller ID said it was my dad.

"Hi Dad." I said into the phone.

"Oh, hey honey, I've been calling for 10 minutes." He answered.

"…"

"Right, uh, babysitting. It's a last minute thing- a guy at work needs someone to babysit his daughter tonight, until 9:00 pm."

"Okay, what time should I get there?" I asked.

"Oh, they're dropping her off here, and at 4:00." He replied. I looked at the clock on the phone- it was 3:46.

"Dad! That's like in 15 minutes!" And the girl is coming here? That's weird.

"I know, hun, but I already said you were available. Besides, they're pretty wealthy- you could make a lot tonight."

"But she's coming here!" What was my dad thinking?

"Sakura, think of the purse."

I huffed. "Fine dad."

"Okay, sweetie, I've got to go, there's another call."

"Kay, dad, bye."

"Bye, hun."

* * *

It was 4:04 and the doorbell finally rang. I opened it to a blonde woman dressed very nicely. I then noticed, that half-hiding behind her, was the little girl I was supposed to babysit. She looked like a child version of the woman (who I presumed was her mother).

"Hi," the woman smiled warmly, while removing her sunglasses, "I'm Mrs. Carter, is Sakura home?"

"Um, yeah, that's me." I replied. Wow. The woman, or Mrs. Carter, was so pretty- and she kind of looked familiar. And my dad was right, about making a lot tonight, by the look of her clothes, she looked _very_ wealthy.

"Oh, thank you so much, I have a meeting in about," she checked her watch (a very nice watch too), "Oh! I have to go, um, Sarah," she said, turning to the little girl behind her, and gestured into the door after giving her a quick hug and kiss, "Now you be good. And do whatever Sakura says, okay?" Sarah nodded shyly, and Mrs. Carter turned back to me. "Thank you so much, I'm sorry about the last minute arrangement."

"No problem," I half-lied.

"I'll be back at 9:00pm, bye Sarah!" she called as she got back into her car. And I might add it was a very nice car too. Not sure what kind, but it was black and shiny and pretty. Sarah waved to it as it pulled out of the driveway.

"So," I started as soon as I shut the door, "What would you like to do?"

Sarah was quiet, and for a moment- I thought she wasn't going to answer. During this time I looked over to the stairs where Samuel was hastily making is way up- I think that was a smart idea for him- who knows what a little girl will do to a cat? Besides, Sammy is fragile.

After looking around the front hall, Sarah finally spoke.

"Can I have some juice?"

* * *

Sarah had 6 glasses of apple juice. I didn't even know someone so small could have so much water capacity. Anyways, while she drank her juice, I asked questions and got to know her a bit more.

"So, Sarah, how old are you?" I took the usual babysitter tone of voice- the one where you talk slowly and encouragingly.

"Six" she said, and took another sip from her glass.

"Wow, so you're a big girl?"

She nodded her head energetically.

"So do have any siblings?" I asked.

"What are siblings?"

"Brothers and sisters."

"I've got a brother. He's a stupid head."

"Yeah, boys are pretty stupid, aren't they?"

She nodded her head energetically again, "Uh- huh."

"So, what are your favourite things to do?"

"I like ponies, and Barbies and flowers. Oh- I like puppies too." I noticed she pronounced her "r"s like "aw"s. I also noticed she didn't really answer my question.

"I love puppies too." I answered.

"Do you have a puppy?" she asked looking around the kitchen.

"No, but I wished I did. Do you have any pets?"

"Uh- huh. I got a bird named MiMi, and a bunny named Bun Bun."

"That's pretty cool," I said as she finished her last glass of apple juice. "So what do you want to do now?" She was about to answer when the phone rang- it was my dad. He said that he had an emergency meeting about a shipment gone wrong ('unbelievable' he said), so he wouldn't get home until late. He then told me that my Mom was out with her friend whatsherface, so she would be home late too. Guess it was just me and Sarah (ironically). After hanging up I turned back to Sarah and repeated my original question. It was then that she noticed that my hair was pink. She was absolutely blown away by it, saying how I looked like her Rock Star Barbie and her Strawberry Shortcake doll.

That led us to our first activity- Dress up.

The moment Sarah entered my walk-in closet, she started going through all the dresses and skirts as if it were second nature. When she found the ones she liked, she'd hand them to me so she could try them on later. Then she went through all the hats I had, then all the jewelry. She ended up wearing a blue dress of mine that I wore to one of my Dad's business dinners, a large sun hat that used to be my Mom's, and a long string of pearls. I have to say she looked pretty cute, with the dress being a gazillion times to big, and the sun hat practically covering all of her face. But dress up wasn't enough. We had to do something now that we were all "superfantabulous" as Sarah liked to put it. So I used one of the old tea sets my Mom keeps in the cupboards and we had a tea party. I used what stuffed animals I could find in my room and set them down on the empty chairs like Sarah insisted. I also filled some plates with cookies, and the cups with iced tea. She drank 3 glasses of iced tea, and still didn't go to the washroom yet. I'm sure that was a warning for me, but I didn't really realize it then.

The next activity was colouring. She made me draw her, and then a kitten, then a horse, then a field of flowers, then her with a kitten on a horse in a field of flowers. Then she coloured them in with markers, and surprisingly was very good at colouring within the lines. When she finished the last drawing, she put them all together and said they were "superfantabulous."

After getting her changed out of my clothes, it was 7:30, only one and a half hours left until she leaves. We decided to watch a movie then, and the only really kid-friendly movie I had was Harry Potter. But during the movie, she started to dance around in her seat. At first I thought it was her just being silly, until I heard the phrase "I gotta pee I gotta pee I gotta pee." That's when I knew it wasn't such a good idea to give a six-year-old 9 drinks. I rushed her to bathroom- but we were too late, and she ended up peeing all over her pants. After soothing the very upset six-year old, I gave her one of my pajama shorts and put her clothes into the washing machine, then we returned to Harry Potter. Halfway through the movie, I looked over to see Sarah asleep on the couch. She looked very familiar, though I couldn't place her. Oh well- I turned off Harry Potter and watched TV instead.

Nine o'clock came, and Mrs. Carter arrived exactly on time. Except when I opened the door, it wasn't Mrs. Carter I saw. It was Sasuke Uchiha.

What?

This left me in a confused stupor for like, ten seconds. Then, after snapping out of it, I asked, "Um, may I help you?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and answered passively, looking away, "Is Sarah here?"

What?

I stared at him, blushing and still confused. "I'm sorry, what?" I finally said.

"I'm here to pick up Sarah- my sister." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Wait….. what?

"Uhhh, sure. She's kind of sleeping on the couch right now though." I replied very slowly. He just stared at me.

"Um, this way." I said, and led him to the first floor TV room, where Sarah was still fast asleep.

It was then that I finally realized why I thought Mrs. Carter and Sarah looked familiar. They were the drawings I looked at in Sasuke's sketchbook (before I trashed it). So I guess that proves he is her brother, though why would he look completely different, and have a different last name? I guess he was adopted? My voice started before my brain had a chance to stop it.

"Wait, I'm confused. How are you two brother and-" I started, but he cut me off.

"What is she wearing?"

"Oh… uh, she had a little bit of an accident… and I gave her my shorts to wear…her clothes are in the wash right now… I could give them to you tomorrow?" I answered nervously, and I blushed again.

Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine." He said, and then lifted her off the couch bridal style, before walking back to the front door. I opened the door for him, but he didn't go through. Instead, he shifted the still sleeping Sarah into one hand and dug around in his pocket. Then he pulled out a wad of money and said, "Here," as he held it out to me.

I completely forgot about the money part, I guess I was too preoccupied with Sarah and the fact that Sasuke was her brother. Anyway, after I took the money, he walked out of the house and over to his Maserati Diablo. I noticed that he had a car seat in the back for Sarah, and I thought that was very cute, though it was very non-Sasuke.

"Um, I'll see you tomorrow?" I half called, half asked. He ignored me, got into his car, and drove off.

I looked at the wad of money and counted how much was there. One hundred and five dollars! Holy Shit! That is my all time record in money made babysitting- though I don't even babysit often… Oh well. But hey! I get my purse! The Chanel bag is MINE! I started doing a little victory dance, but my thoughts returned to Sasuke.

Who would have known that he was adopted? Well, I think he was adopted… I'll ask Naruto tomorrow. Hey- you know what's kind of cool (although a little creepy)?

Sasuke knows where I live.

* * *

I woke up with the biggest smile on my face- why? Because it's Friday! AND FRIDAY IS MY DATE WITH NARUTO!

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited (even though I'm not really into Katana's music)! And guess what also? I made friggen 105 last night! Boo yah! I get my purse! I got dressed in my perfect outfit and looked in the full length mirror in my room. The purse would match my outfit "superfantabulously" as Sarah would say. Anyways, I'm definitely going to the mall and getting it once school is over. Then I can bring it to the concert! WITH NARUTO!

That reminded me- I've got to ask Naruto about Sasuke and his sister. I also have got to return Sarah's shorts to Sasuke. Biting my lips I remembered Sarah calling Sasuke a "stupid head."

* * *

I was right- Sasuke is adopted- I got the info out Naruto when he caught me at my locker before school started.

Naruto: (walking to me with plastic bag in hand and small frown on face) Hey Sakura!

Me: Hey!

Naruto: Um, Sasuke told me to give this to you (small frown still on face as he hands over plastic bag)

Me: Oh… (looks in bag and sees pajama shorts) Oh! He actually remembered, I wasn't sure if he would.

Naruto: (small frown still present as he starts to shift uncomfortably) Hey, Sakura… (he continues –a little reluctantly- after I answer with a "yeah?") Can I ask why Sasuke is giving you your pajamas back?

Me: (comprehension dawns on face as to why Naruto was frowning in the first place- get your mind out of the gutter Naruto! Though I do understand how he could misinterpret what happened… with Sasuke giving me my own clothes back…) Ooooohhhh, I babysat his sister last night and she had an accident, so I gave her a pair of my pj's.

Naruto: (frown disappears, looks relieved) Oh, I was just… yeah. Uhhh… (cheeks flush- awwww)

Me: Can you give this to Sasuke? (hands him Sarah's clothing) They're Sarah's clothes- I had to wash them first.

Naruto: Yeah, sure! (yup- he definitely is relieved) No problem (takes clothes).

Me: Umm, yeah, about Sasuke…(my turn to shift uncomfortably) Is he, um, adopted or something?

Naruto: Yeah, but he got some sort of inheritance so he made his adoptive family even richer (nice grammar Naruto), and he also kept his last name because of it.

Me: Okay… just, you know, wondering. (Not asking anymore questions 'cause I'm not _that_ nosy)

Naruto: …Hey- the concert is tonight!

Me: Yeah, I'm excited!

Naruto: (smiles really, really nicely) Me too, I- (five minute bell cuts him off) Well, I'll see you later today, bye! (It seems as if the five-minute bell cuts Naruto off very frequently)

Me: Bye! (packs up stuff and heads for art)

I blame Sasuke's attractiveness for making me not work during art. He came up to me when I was trying to draw in my document journal, and my concentration shattered the moment he came within a 3 foot radius of me.

He stood in front of me, silent and passive as always, until I gave him my full attention- which meant me shifting my position to look at him, and setting down my pencil and paper.

"You forgot the shoes." He stated.

"Uh… sorry, what?" I asked, not quite sure what he was talking about.

"Sarah's shoes." He stated, annoyed that he had to explain himself. Well he wouldn't be annoyed if he weren't so vague all the time. But I got flustered and blushed deeply all the same.

"Oh! Those! I'm sorry, I forgot that when you picked her up, you carried her, and she didn't have her shoes on, and we didn't put them on, all you did was give me the money- which was a lot by the way, because usually I only get like 40 or 50 dollars, but all you did was give me the money and we didn't put on her shoes, and how stupid of me! Because I got most of her clothing but not her shoes- but I forgot she didn't have them with her and I only noticed her pants and stuff, and I'm sorry, that was stupid of me. Really, really…" I trailed off when he raised an eyebrow, annoyed at my rambling. Damn my rambling! Why do I always do that around him? Oh yeah, because he should be arrested for being so superfantabulous/ intimidating because of his attractiveness. Wait; scratch that last thought- I can't look at him if he's in jail. Anyway, at least it was a raised eyebrow and not a glare.

I finally cleared my throat and answered properly, "Oh, I'll bring them Monday, or you can drop by my house, I'll leave them in a plastic bag on the front porch."

"Bring them tonight."

"Tonight… you're going to Katana too?" Was he coming with Naruto and I, or by himself? Unfortunately, my question wasn't answered because he walked away.

"I'll bring them then!" I called/ not really because I was too scared too and kind of faintly said it instead.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

Guess what time it is?! 3:45! So I'm out of school and driving to the mall to get my purse!

It was still sitting in the window when I got to the Chanel store. I paid with my debit card because my Dad put the remaining money needed for the purse in there.

The moment the cashier lady gave the bag to me, I clutched it to my chest. And the moment I got to my car, I put everything from my old purse into my spankin' new, beautifully white, absolutely fantastic Chanel bag. And when I drove home, it was sitting on my lap the whole way.

The first thing I did when I got home (aside from admiring my Chanel bag) was call Ino. We squealed for about 10 minutes about Naruto, my outfit, and my new purse, until she reminded me I had to get ready. She was right (it was 4:35), so I hung up and hopped into the shower. When the shower was done, I straightened my hair, got into my red dress and leggings, and put on a little bit of eyeliner and mascara. Then I put on some lip gloss and put it in my CHANEL PURSE!

After trying to feed Samuel (he didn't eat anything this time, so I dumped the food in his water, making him less than pleasant), I told my Dad I was going to a concert (not really specifying that it was a date), and waited at the top of the stairs- ready to bound down the moment the doorbell rang.

It was 5:37 and my feet were tapping against the stairs impatiently. Then, a minute later, the doorbell rang. I almost fell I ran down the stairs so fast. I composed myself briefly though, before opening the door. Naruto was on the other side looking _really_ good. Though he was wearing practically the same thing from school- a bright orange jacket and baggy jeans- he looked a little neater. It must have been the hair, because it was a tad tamer than the usual wild array of spikes.

"Hi!" we said at the same time (though mine wasn't as loud). We laughed at that, though it was a little cheesy, then Naruto, after getting a hold of him self, said, "Sorry for being late, I had to stop and get some gas for my car first." He gestured to the car parked at the side of the road.

"No problem," I replied, looking over his shoulder to his car. It was a bright orange (figures) Lexis. It was nice, but not as nice as a Maserati Diablo. Which reminded me…

"Hold on one second," I said, and ran around the corner to the first floor TV room. I came back with Sarah's shoes. "I forgot them, and Sasuke said to bring them to the concert." I explained. It was so easy to talk about him when Naruto was around.

"Oh yeah! I forgot the idiot was going!" he replied, as we walked to his car. I was about to open the door when he put a hand on my shoulder. "You look really nice," he said, then walked around to the driver's side.

I blushed deeply and mumbled a "thanks."

He smiled in return, and then got into his seat. I did the same, and as soon as I was settled, he drove off.

We stopped at some type of pizza restaurant on the way to the concert. The restaurant was pretty nice and the food was good. We also had some interesting conversations. I offered to pay for half of the bill, but he insisted to pay all of it. I finally convinced him to let me at least pay for some of it, and he agreed. Then he said, "We better hurry though, 'cause we wanna get a good spot at the concert." I nodded in agreement. We had exited the restaurant and were getting into his car when I realized something. Don't tickets assign your seats? Why would it matter whether or not we got there early?

"Um, Naruto?" I asked as he started the engine, "Where exactly are we sitting?"

"Only the best seats," he stated, with a huge grin on his face. "The mosh pit."

Oh Shit.

* * *

I brought my purse into the stadium with me. It was that, or leave it in Naruto's car and risk the car getting broken into. It wasn't the smartest idea, but it was really the only choice I had.

I clutched my Chanel bag to my chest as we entered the mosh pit. Okay, nothing was bad yet- the music hadn't started so people were just kind of talking- well, yelling over other people's voices. Naruto and I tried to talk but it was too loud, so we ended up just looking around the stadium. I kept an eye out for Sasuke to help pass the time. I thought I spotted him once or twice, but I'm not sure.

When the lights darkened, my eyes turned to the stage to see the opening band. The stadium was filled with screams as they started playing, and I clung to Naruto's arm when people started to jump around. I missed the huge, goofy smile that spread across his face as I did so, because I was too occupied with making sure me and my Chanel bag didn't get squished.

I thought it wouldn't get worse, but I was so wrong.

When Katana came out, people started screaming so loud I thought my eardrums would burst. And when the band started playing, I'm pretty sure they did. I looked up at Naruto, who seemed to be laughing- probably at my ever tightening hold on his arm. I'm pretty sure he'll have bruises the next day from my vice grip. Actually, I think _I'll_ be the one to have bruises tomorrow- the people around Naruto and I were jumping and bashing against us so much I'm surprised I didn't fall down.

I suddenly turned my head to look behind me- I swear, out of the corner of my eye, I had seen Sasuke. I turned all the way around to scan the crowd more thoroughly- which was hard with everything being dark and moving and loud.

That was when I felt some random guy grope my butt. I shrieked and went back to clutching Naruto's arm, and stayed like that for the next four songs. But I thought I saw Sasuke out of the corner of my eye again, and when I turned around, it really was Sasuke. He was about 10 feet away from us and was standing still, face passive as usual. I tugged on Naruto's sleeve to get his attention. When he looked down, I pointed to Sasuke. He grinned when he saw what I was pointing at, then pulled us both through the crowd towards him. But everyone was shoving and jumping and pushing and I accidentally let go of Naruto's arm.

Almost immediately I was surrounded by people bashing against each other and dancing wildly. I was terrified. A random guy came up to me and was like, "Hey Baby" before trying to touch me in places he shouldn't. I punched him in the face. Well, I tried to.

Finally, Naruto found my arm and took a hold of it. This caused me to hold my purse in one arm. Which was a very bad thing to do when you're in a mosh pit filled with perverts.

I saw it coming too. The man that grabbed my but the first time pushed pass me swiftly- though in my eyes, it seemed as if he were in slow motion. His arm reached out and hooked under one of the straps. I just stared at him with large, petrified eyes- too afraid to do anything about it. Then, when he tugged the bag, it slipped fluently from my grasp. It was only until after I lost contact with my beloved purse did I do anything about it.

The next twenty seconds happened in a blur. I screamed out Naruto's name over the crowd and music. He looked at me and I gestured frantically to my purse and the pervert. Naruto took two steps and grabbed the guy's arm. The guy looked back at Naruto, ripped his arm out of his grasp and ran- right into Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed to tower over my purse-stealer, though he was only an inch taller. Then, he took a hold of my purse in on hand and almost _casually _(seriously, he did it so naturally), punched the pervert guy- who then stumbled back and was lost in the crowd. I couldn't hear what Naruto was saying because of the blaring music and hyper crowd, but he seemed pretty happy as he took the purse from Sasuke and presented it to me, as if he was the one who saved it. I took my purse back and clutched it forcefully to my chest. Naruto and Sasuke silently decided to stand on either side of me, just in case the purse- stealer came back (though I believe Sasuke was there because he was just too lazy to move). I observed the rest of the concert clinging to Naruto's arm tightly.

The concert ended and Naruto and I made it out of the stadium with only getting 7 shoves and 2 butt- grabs (to me- not to Naruto). I was surprised there were no purse stealing attempts. Maybe it was because I was with two tall and pretty muscular guys. When we were finally in fresh air, I pulled Sarah's shoes from my purse and gave them to Sasuke. He nodded ever so slightly, and left without a word.

I didn't have time to think about that though because Naruto was pulling me in the direction of his Lexis. He said we should hurry so we won't get caught in the traffic jam. When we were safe and sound inside his car, I thanked him for an awesome night (even if it was completely terrifying- but I didn't tell him that). He said we should do it again, but maybe not a concert. I said 'Like on another date?' and he said 'yeah.' I blushed and said 'okay.'

It was 11:45 when he pulled up in front of my house.

"Thanks again, that was really fun." I said, putting my bag over my shoulder. "And thank you- about getting my purse back and stuff."

"No problem, I had fun too." He replied, grinning. "Even if you were clinging to me the whole time," he teased.

"Hey, it was pretty crazy down there, and I was trying to keep my purse safe." I defended.

He laughed and I joined him. Though it seemed all the laughing we did was kind of corny. "Well, thanks, again," I said as I opened the door of the car.

"Hey, Sakura?" he said before I got out.

I turned to him, still sitting, "Yeah?"

That was when he leaned in, and put his lips to mine. I'm positive my insides turned to jelly at that moment. He pulled away after a couple of seconds and smiled, "Goodnight."

"Night," I answered breathlessly, and got out of the car, blushing profusely. After closing the car door, I walked briskly to my house, unlocked it, and waved to Naruto before shutting the door and running up to my room.

I laid on my bed for about five minutes, with a huge smile on my face and my hand over my lips (Sam was a little confused at my behavior, but lay beside me anyways). And when all the night's events registered fully into my mind- buying my purse, Naruto picking me up, saying I looked nice, taking me to dinner, taking me to Katana, then KISSING me- I couldn't help but roll over and squeal loudly and happily into my pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke felt like slamming his head into the steering wheel. He restrained himself though, because firstly – it would hurt, secondly – the horn would blare (giving him even more of a headache), and thirdly – he would most likely get himself and his sister, currently occupying the car seat in the back, in a car accident. But as he kept on driving, that feeling turned into more of an urge – Sarah was currently singing 'wheels on the bus' for the seventeenth time, and Sasuke was trying to keep his cool.

Earlier that Saturday morning, Marie, Sarah's mother, asked Sasuke to take Sarah out for the day. Sasuke was planning to do absolutely nothing that day, honestly, but since he didn't really have anything to use as back-up if he said no, the answer was obvious. Sarah was his responsibility for the next 6 hours. Besides, to Sasuke, it wasn't like he had a choice – if he ever did say no, he would get this horrible feeling eating away at the pit of his stomach – guilt – and it only ever occurred when it involved the Carter family.

Mr. and Mrs. Carter had always wanted a child, but when Marie was told she couldn't have children, they turned to adoption. They adopted Sasuke when he was eight years old, not long after he was orphaned. Sasuke was a peculiar circumstance, not in that he was a cold, moody and reticent child (although that did add to it), but Sasuke had millions and millions of dollars to his name with the inheritance from his birth parents. So as he was rejected by almost everyone who came in looking to adopt, his money was not- it was the head of orphanage who had to say 'no' to all those looking for other purposes than to have a child. However, when the Carters came looking to adopt, it wasn't at the orphanage Sasuke was in, rather, the orphanage they went to directed them to where Sasuke was. Because who better to adopt this cold, unkind, extremely wealthy child than a couple who could manage a cold and unkind child where being wealthy made no difference- Marie and Phillip were already loaded, a couple more mills were irrelevant. But then, four years after Sasuke's adoption, a "miracle", as the doctors called it, happened. - Marie became pregnant with Sarah.

Ever since Sarah was born, Sasuke had been protective of her- maybe a little over-protective, but that was the way Sasuke worked. He would make sure she was never hurt or spoken badly of, and whenever she cried, he would try and make it better – in his own sort of Sasuke-way. Maybe he needed to someone to protect, to compensate for what he lost when he was eight, or maybe he felt like he had to. Either way, he loved the Carter family, though admitting 'love' was one of the last things he'd do on earth.

"…All through the town! The wheels on the bus…"

Okay, maybe he didn't love Sarah right now – but still…

"… Go Round and Round! Round and Round! Round and Round! The wheels on the bus go Round and Round! All through the town! The wheels on the bus go-"

"Sarah." Sasuke interrupted.

"Yes Sasuke?!" she sang.

"Stop singing."

"But I'm on a bus so I'm singing about it!"

"This is not a bus."

"Oh. Then what is it?" She asked. Sarah was able to get side tracked easily, but she also tended to ask questions until she was satisfied with the answers. And sometimes it took her a _long_ time to get satisfied – but at least she wasn't singing.

"A Maserati Diablo." Sasuke replied.

"What's that?"

"The car from James Bond."

"Who's James Bond?"

"A spy."

"He's a spy?"

"Yes."

"Does he do cool sneaky things?"

"Yes."

"Can I do cool sneaky things?"

Sasuke sighed, frustrated. This was as bad as non-stop Wheels on the Bus. But if it meant that Sarah was happy, "Yes."

"Can I be a spy?"

"Yes."

"Can I have a codename?"

"Sure."

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"But Sasuke!"

"Agent Sarah."

"What?"

"Your code name. Agent Sarah."

"That's stupid. You're a stupid-head."

"Then pick one yourself."

"You should be Agent Stupid-head."

"Hn."

"Sasuke!"

"Agent Super Fantabulous."

"…Is that your name or my name?"

"Your name."

"I like that name."

"Good."

"What's your codename?"

"I don't have one."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Do you want to go to Starbucks?" Sasuke asked, changing topic.

"You mean the fancy coffee place?"

"Yes."

"Only if I can be Agent Superfantabulous."

* * *

"Sarah, what do you want?" Sasuke asked when they got to Starbucks. Sarah ignored him. "Sarah," Sasuke said, getting impatient.

"My name's not Sarah, its Agent Super Fantabulous, remember?" she whispered.

"Your name is Sarah."

"But you said it was Agent Super Fantabulous."

"That is a codename."

"Oh."

"What do you want?"

"Can I have," Sarah thought for a moment before saying, "Lemonade."

"That is not enough for lunch."

"Okay… That sandwich, and… that cookie!" she said, pointing to the two objects on the shelves. Sasuke nodded and then ordered, adding on a sandwich for himself. The cashier girl tried to, unsuccessfully, flirt with him, and all her attempts were ignored.

When Sasuke paid for and received their order, he turned around to locate Sarah.

"Fuck." He muttered to himself- she was over talking to none other than paper towel girl- who was sitting at a table with one of her annoying friends.

"Fuck." He muttered again, before reluctantly walking over to their table.

"Sarah. Time to go." He said, interrupting their conversation. Paper towel girl looked up, surprised, and the blonde girl looked up and let out a squeak.

"Sasuke, can we sit with them!?" She asked, tugging on his shirt.

"Sure?" answered paper towel girl, seemingly surprised that she blurt out an agreement, moving over so there was room for the both of them. The blonde friend just sat there, stunned.

"No." Sasuke replied, turning to leave.

"Pleeeeaaasse!?" Sarah pleaded, giving Sasuke her infamous puppy-dog eyes.

"No."

"Oh." Sarah answered morosely, sighed heavily, and looked down at the ground.

Sasuke's jaw tightened. …Why the fuck did she have to do that? He hesitated, knowing full well that Sarah was doing this on purpose, then answered through clenched teeth, only because it would make Sarah happy, "Fine."

"Really? Thanks Sasuke! See Sakura? He's not a stupid-head all of the time!" Sarah said and climbed onto the seat, then gestured for Sasuke to do the same, "Come Sasuke! Sit next to me!" Sasuke, keeping his face indifferent, sat down next to her. He was fucking screwed.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

If it weren't for Sarah's non-stop talking, this would have been a gazillion times worse than it already was. I really didn't mean to say "Sure" – it just slipped, and Sarah complied before I could do anything about it. And now Sasuke is across the table from me and I can't stop blushing.

I don't know why I'm blushing either- it's not like he's saying anything. Well, he says "Eat" in an indifferent voice every time Sarah forgets about her food when telling a really long story. I think that the only reason on why Sasuke tells her to "eat" is to get her to stop talking.

Personally, I thought it was quite cute, because Sarah would talk about anything and everything. Even things about Sasuke – like how he is building his own car in their garage, or how she sometimes sleeps in his bed during thunderstorms.

Maybe I was blushing because she was giving away personal information, and the look on Sasuke's face as his pride and dignity was slowly being torn apart was rather – well, adorable. And a little sexy. …But I'll keep that to myself. Because I'm not supposed to think that about my maybe-hopefully-I-really-wish-he-was-boyfriend's best friend. And I usually don't think that way about guys either. Usually it is a simple 'attractive' or 'unattractive' judgment. Maybe there is an exception to really, really hot guys who are sitting only a foot away from you. That's probably why my thinking is haywire. And it's possibly why I was blushing so much.

Or _maybe_ I was blushing because Sasuke had an expression that wasn't fully passive (or intoxicated). Though his face stayed almost completely stoic and indifferent, there were hints of what I think was humiliation. I would be too if my little sibling was blabbering private information about me to someone I barely know and gradually ruining my reputation. I would be, if I had a little sibling. …Or a reputation to keep up with, really. But Sasuke seemed to keep his face well hidden and continue with his usual nature (like when I raised an eyebrow at how he ate his sandwich –taking off the tomatoes and leaving them for last – and he just stared at me, unmoving), even with Sarah present – though I noticed he seemed quite a bit more gentle, if that makes any sense. Like, he didn't glare or use profanities at all because Sarah was here.

I also could be blushing because every time I would say something to Sarah, Sasuke would look at me; annoyed. I had to edit my words very carefully the whole time, I was afraid I would say something to Sarah that Sasuke would disapprove of. I mean, he did seem highly protective of her and he did act like he had _some_ form of feelings for her. He wouldn't have agreed to sit down with us if he was unfeeling for Sarah.

But perhaps I was blushing because every time I spoke, I would get flustered, and then wouldn't be able to form coherent sentences, and then I would stutter. Kind of like Hinata. Who, FYI, is acting really weird lately. I called her to tell her about how my date went and she was all distant and stuff. It's probably because it was about Naruto, and she does have a crush on him too. But unless she was like, super madly crushing on him, there is no reason for her to act so weird. Maybe she is super madly crushing on him…

Anyway, back to blushing.

It could be because of Ino, who was acting like a complete idiot (more so than I was). She was constantly trying to flirt with him and batting her eyelashes and stuff. It was a little embarrassing. And what made it even more embarrassing was that she persisted even though she was completely ignored. She only toned it down a little when Sarah stared at her for a long time before saying, "You're stupid." I tried to suppress laughter, and I'm pretty sure I saw Sasuke's lips twitch, but I'm not quite sure.

To sum it all up, I bet Sasuke had a I _super_ time.

Not.

At all.

I think he was extremely pissed.

I mean, if I were an amazingly attractive guy, who was forced to sit with my annoying adoptive sibling who I don't want anyone finding out about, and said sibling was spilling personal information to two annoying idiots who were either trying to flirt with me, or babbling like a they were retarded, then having to withstand all of it for a full half hour because I had to keep my reputation and keep my sibling happy for a freakin' half hour then, yeah, I guess I would be pissed too.

So I was kind of relieved when Sarah was finished eating her lunch, because Sasuke wasted no time in leaving, though something in me wanted him to stay. Well, at least I could continue to drink my latte- which I hadn't touched since Sarah came in dragging her beautiful older brother. But as soon as the foam touched my lips, I saw Sasuke again. He and Sarah were outside the big window of the café, and Sasuke looked like he wasn't obliging to what Sarah, who was tugging on his shirt and had the most innocent of faces on, was begging for. Then Sasuke finally nodded his head and crouched. Sarah did a little victory dance before climbing onto his back with a huge smile on her face. Sasuke stood up and started walking with Sarah on his back. I waved to Sarah when she caught eye of me. She waved back, giggled, and then waved again. Sasuke turned to see what Sarah was looking at, and when he spotted me, his lips quirked into a smile. No wait – it wasn't a smile – it was a smirk. A very smug, almost triumphant one too. Why? Beats me.

I turned back to Ino, but the moment I faced her, she started laughing hysterically. In between her spurts of laughter, she made a gesture for me to touch my cheek. When I did, I realized why Sasuke was smirking. I had a huge glob of latte foam on the side of my face when I waved to Sarah. _Shit._ My eyes widened, and I rubbed at my cheek furiously with a napkin as my face turned beat red. Then I buried my face into my hands in pure embarrassment.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit shitshitshitshitshitshitshit shitshit.

That was the only word in my vocabulary during the next 3 hours. Why does everything that could possibly go wrong, go wrong for me?

* * *

Something very surprising happened this morning. Actually 10 surprising things happened this morning.

1. Naruto was waiting for me when I got to the doors of the school.

2. Naruto said, "Hey Babe." A little weird, I know.

3. Naruto gave me a light peck and started walking.

4. Naruto took my hand in his.

5. Naruto and I walked like that through the school to my locker.

6. Naruto waited for me to get out my things before staying to talk with me.

7. Naruto kissed me again.

8. Naruto asked me on another date after Sasuke's on Tuesday.

9. Naruto kissed me again and then went to his class when the 5 minute bell rang

10. I didn't like numbers 1-9.

Well, I liked them, but isn't it a little bold or something? I mean, we had one date, we kissed once, and now he's acting like we're super tight. And I'm confused, because he does it in such a sweet way, but it is a little fast. Wasn't there some rule where you wait for the third date to actually kiss?

And another thing – the whole school saw it. It wasn't like they were kind of secret little things. Naruto kissed me right out in the open for the whole world to see. That meant Ino and Hinata too.

Ino looked like she was about to burst, but ran to class after winking at me. Hinata walked with me down to art, and didn't say one word the whole time. Which I was partially glad for because then it would be less embarrassing for me. But I didn't like that the silence on the walk to our class was uncomfortable.

And the silence stayed like that even after we got to the art room. But then I started a conversation that had absolutely no point to it, just to get rid of the tension – or whatever it was that was causing all of this not talking. Hinata joined in too, which I was happy about, though she still seemed a little discontented. I also told her about meeting Sasuke in Starbucks. I know I shouldn't have, because when I told the story I told her every detail of it (including the personal information on Sasuke), but it was the only way to keep Hinata from being all distant like.

Either I spoke too loud, or everyone was very quiet, because I found Sasuke glaring at me from across the room, again. And his glare looked angry. Yeah, it kind of was a stupid thing to do, talking about Sasuke when he is in the same room as me. I think if I were a guy he would have walked over to where I was sitting and punched me. It was a good thing I was going out with Naruto now too, because that kind of gave me a safety shield against his friends. But still, if looks could kill, I would be dead now. Actually, I would have been dead a long time ago (the whole sketchbook ordeal). …Basically, I made Sasuke angry again. Woops.

It was my turn to be silent now. Very, very silent.

* * *

We had a test today in English. It was a content test on Macbeth and I forgot to study for it so I kind of winged it. I did read the book though, so I think I did pretty well.

Ino begged for me to tell her about Naruto at lunch. And when I did, Hinata went back to being distant. I also told Ino though, that Naruto was going a little fast with this whole thing. She said 'what do you expect; he's one of the popular guys – hey, now you'll be popular too!' …Geez, thanks for the sympathy, Ino.

I was actually nervous when I went to Instrumental class; I didn't know what Naruto would do. So when I got there, I put together my flute really quickly and practiced my scales until class officially started (though I may have looked a little loserish while doing so). That way I wouldn't have to talk… or kiss.

I know I'm making a huge deal out of this Naruto thing, but I've never officially dated before so I'm not an exact expert on it. It's not that I don't like Naruto, because I really do, it's just that I'm a little bit shy and new at this whole dating thing.

Naruto held my hand all the way to Biology, and he only let go once we were seated. Unfortunately, Naruto made us sit next to Sasuke. And what made it even more unfortunate was that the first thing Naruto said to him was, "Hey idiot! I heard you met Sakura at Starbucks!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto and then shifted his gaze to me, turning it into a glare. I, of course, blushed and looked away. Naruto laughed, not quite getting the tension between us. He then made it worse when he continued to speak.

"Aw, don't get mad, Sasuke! You're not the only one who is ruled over by a six year old!" and he burst out laughing again. I think he was supposed to follow up the statement with a 'wait, yes you are!' but he never did, making the joke not much of a joke – not that it was a very funny one in the first place.

I shifted uncomfortably and Sasuke turned his glare to the front of the classroom.

Then I felt someone whisper in my ear.

"You even smell like cherry blossoms."

I shrieked and jumped into Naruto, who fell off his seat and into Sasuke. I ended up half on my chair, half on Naruto's chair, Naruto ended up on the ground with all our books and binders around him, and Sasuke managed to stay upright in his chair, only letting out a "Shit-head" to Naruto.

Before any of us could right ourselves though, I was pulled into the embrace of the catalyst. Of course, it was Lee.

"Oh Sakura! What tom foolery have you gotten yourself into, hm?" he said and gestured with one hand to the mess I made, while the other stayed around my waist.

"Um, Lee? Can you let go of me?" I said, and blushed at our proximity – he was holding me way too close for my liking. Actually, even touching me is way to close.

"Oh Sakura, your blush is the same colour of the flower you are named after!" He replied, ignoring me, and stroked my cheek. Uuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm, ew. I shivered in disgust and tried to wiggle out.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" yelled Naruto when he finally stood up and saw the position Lee had me in. He then tore me from Lee's embrace and into his own. Oh thank god! I thought caterpillar man would try something new if I didn't escape when I did.

"Why Naruto! Sakura and I were just exchanging dinner plans!" Lee falsely explained.

"Hey! She's my girlfriend! So back off!" Naruto said, getting angry. Oh my god! I'm officially his girlfriend! And two guys were having a fight over me! Except I'm not sure if Lee counts… I swear he's got issues. But Lee didn't seem to notice Naruto's anger and our relationship status, so he stayed his usual poetic and jubilant self.

"No one can tame the cherry blossom, no matter how fragile she may seem!" He then took my hand into his, but Naruto snatched me away, and pushed me behind him. I landed in Sasuke's lap. Hey – I was in three different guys' embrace in less than one minute! But once again I'm not sure Lee counts. And Sasuke's embrace was an accident – not really an embrace.

It was at that moment that Mr. Kakashi decided to come into the classroom. Without even taking his eyes off of his pervert book, he said calmly though authoritative, "Naruto, leave Lee alone. Lee, Sakura's not interested. Sakura, get out of Sasuke's lap. Sasuke, stop glaring at everyone." How did he do that? Was this like a Kakashi-knows-all thing or was he spying on us before he came in? Because that was way too creepy.

Anyways. Naruto let go of Lee's shirt, while Lee stepped back and blew a kiss to me. I turned my head away to ignore it and (reluctantly) got off of Sasuke's lap and back into my own seat with my face beat red. Sasuke didn't do anything – he just sat there – glaring at the front of the classroom.

Mr. Kakashi continued to talk, basically reminding us of our project and double checking our topics. He ended the class with telling us about a youth science club. He didn't sound very excited about it (nor did the rest of the class), but Lee jumped out of his seat when the bell rang, grabbed a sign up sheet, and ran out of the door yelling something about 'stoking the fires of youth'. Sasuke left without a word, and Naruto held my hand as he walked out with me.

I noticed Hinata glaring at me when Naruto and I got to my locker. Well, she wasn't really glaring, because I don't think Hinata _can_ glare – she's too nice. It was more like an icy, slightly pleading stare – but it was enough to make me feel guilty and betraying. So when Naruto bent down to kiss me, I looked away a little and tilted my head down.

"Um, Naruto?" I asked quietly, looking up through my bangs. He looked confused. "Could we maybe, um, tone down the, um, kissing?" My voice started off strong but ended in a whisper.

"Uh, sure Sakura. Sorry." He stilled looked confused, so after grabbing my belongings from my locker, I grabbed his hand and walked towards his locker. Then I explained.

"It's not your fault or anything. It's just, well…" I didn't really know how to tell him. How do you say, 'I'm not comfortable with this kissing stuff and one of my best friends is superbly crushing on you, but you are taken by me'? Well, I kind of told the half truth. "I don't think my friends are quite ready for it. I mean, _I'm_ fine, but they think that I'm going to spend all my time with you and none with them. So you'd be kind of like, stealing me or something." So I didn't tell the truth at all… Oh well.

It took Naruto a while to actually get what I was saying. "Oh…okay." He finally said when we got to his locker, but I'm not sure if he knew what I was asking. So I cleared it up for him.

"Maybe we should take it slow? You know, to make my friends feel better?" Wow, that sounded lame.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry though, I didn't want to make it seem that way." He said, taking his things from his own locker. When he finished, I put my hand back into his to reassure him.

"I told you, it's not your fault – we should just make it less, um, noticeable." I was really bad at lying. Good thing Naruto had tunnel vision.

He closed his locker, and then said, "Okay, I think I get it. Your friends are afraid I'm going to steal you, so we should make it not seem that way by not kissing around them?"

Close enough.

"Um, yeah…" I replied as he walked me to the parking lot. Naruto looked around before turning to smile at me.

"But we can now, right?" He looked so excited when he said it that I'm pretty sure he still didn't get it. But his face was so happy then, I couldn't say no. So I lied again.

"Um, sure?" I hesitantly answered.

His smile became mischievous and he backed me up against the lockers in the hallway. I had this funny feeling that this shouldn't be happening, but it was only a minority. The majority was becoming exceedingly nervous. My heart beat raced and the butterflies decided to have a party in my stomach as Naruto bent his head towards me. His eyes were closed when his lips touched mine, but my eyes stayed wide open- painfully aware of the fact that we were in public and there were people probably watching us. When his lips started moving against mine, I scrunched my eyes close in an attempt to block out the public factor. But I could still _hear_ everything. Maybe if I tried kissing him back, everything would go away except for Naruto, and I wouldn't be so…. Paranoid? Is that what I was feeling? Or was it the little minority feeling that was saying this isn't right?

My pondering ended when Naruto pulled away and continued walking, pulling me with him by grabbing onto my hand. He had a huge grin on his face when he looked back – unaware of the fact that I was uncomfortable and slightly indecisive.

When we got to my car, he kissed me again, and this time I kissed him back – hoping to drive away the nagging in my stomach. It worked – the kissing back thing – the nagging turned into a soft buzzing. Especially when his hands took a hold of my waist and my arms went around his neck. It took a couple of seconds, but I finally found myself enjoying the kiss. I have to admit, I didn't really know what I was doing – but it seemed that Naruto liked it. Though throughout the whole kiss, I wondered if this is what our relationship would be based on.

And I was relieved when my cell phone rang. It was my dad telling me that he was going to work late that night and I could heat up some pizzas in the freezer for dinner. When I hung up, it seemed Naruto wanted to continue what we started – so I pretended that my dad wanted me home early and that's why he called. Naruto believed me and gave me a peck for a goodbye. I got into my car and drove home, turning on the radio to distract me from my thoughts.

So dating Naruto isn't all that I thought it would be. But it was only the beginning, right? And at least I have him, and I'm not just flirting with him, right?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

Oh. My. God. I am at Sasuke Uchiha's house. Firstly, it's absolutely ginormous. Secondly, there are like, maids and butlers and chefs and EVERYTHING! Thirdly, according to Naruto, I'm the only girl who has been allowed into the Uchiha property by Sasuke that is not a party guest of some sort. But what was as amazing as actually _being_ at the house, was _getting_ there.

Okay, so school had just ended and it completely slipped my mind that it was Tuesday. Also, Naruto still didn't get the 'take it slow' policy I tried to put forward the day before. So I had a plan that once the bell rang, I would grab all my stuff from my locker and drive home as fast as possible to avoid all the kissing and couple stuff that was way beyond where I was at right then. So, I did follow through with my plan, and it was easy since Naruto and I have different last periods on day 2's. But I forgot it was Tuesday. And I got in my car and drove home (might I add there was some strange whirring sound coming from my ford as I drove) forgetting all about what was supposed to happen after school.

I got home and hung out with Samuel until my phone rang about a half hour later. I looked at the Caller ID and it was then that I finally realized that we were planning to go to Sasuke's after school. The first thing I said when I picked up was, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I completely forgot!" And then I rambled on and on about some lame excuse as to why I was home in a rush and not there. I didn't even give Naruto a chance to speak I was talking so fast.

But then the person on the other end of the phone spoke and I realized that it wasn't Naruto on the phone, but Sasuke.

And after realizing this, I went into another ramble of apologies. Sasuke, on the other end, interrupted me saying he was going to drop by to get me. Naruto and Sasuke had apparently made it to his house when, after I had not shown up, decided to do a round about the neighborhood to see if I was lost on the way to getting there. They had finally decided to call my house when I was not found, and since they were already out, it would be easier just to pick me up. And Sasuke sounded very annoyed on the phone, so I wasn't sure what his mood would be like in person- and that made me nervous. What also made me nervous was being in Sasuke's car.

When I entered Sasuke's car, it felt like I was transferred into a James Bond movie. Not only was I sitting beside an amazingly attractive guy, but the car was crazy high-tech and fancy. And when he started driving, I couldn't help but smile. First- he is a much, _much_, better driver than Naruto (while Sasuke drives smoothly, Naruto drives all jerky), and second, the car made the ride so smooth and he went so fast that I found myself grinning. I think Sasuke saw me grinning too, because he gave me a side-long glance before speeding up. He then turned off the main routes and drove through the community streets, where, I believed, he was showing off- because he'd do all these cool turns while going really fast, and sometimes I held onto the seat in anticipation for the upcoming tricks. But he kept it all very subtle. If I were someone completely not obsessed with Sasuke, then I would have thought he was just a crazy driver, but I could see the suppressed smirk on his face and the obvious difference in his driving from when we were on the main roads.

I only smiled more when we reached his house. It was in one of those really nice gated communities where you have to stop at the gate and talk to the camera where a concierge guy would let you in. It was so unrealistic; it was like being in a movie – every house around it looked huge and rich, though Sasuke definitely had the biggest one.

It almost looked Victorian and old fashioned because of the ivy that ran up the bricks and the perfectly grown gardens. There was also a huge driveway that did the circle thing around a fountain in the front, and it lead to a huge garage in the back where Sasuke parked. Even though the car was off and Sasuke had gotten out with the usual passive face, I couldn't stop grinning. …I should get rides with Sasuke more often. But then I wondered why Sasuke had picked me up and not Naruto. He said that Naruto was still out looking, and when I said, 'shouldn't you call him on his cell phone?', he just stared at me and walked towards the house. I guess Naruto will call Sasuke sooner or later.

When we entered the actual house part, I tried not to gape. There were butlers near the entrance and they welcomed Sasuke and me, and there were these other maid looking type people – it was so cool. But it wasn't just the house's servers that amazed me – it was the house itself. You'd think that the president could live there it was so nice. It had the traditional two staircases that curved down on either side of the front hall and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Basically, imagine your dream mansion and that's what you got as Sasuke's house. He led me to a library that was to the left of the front hall. I think there were more books there than what we had at our school. Then I wondered why Sasuke went to our school and not some rich private school.

My thoughts were interrupted though, by a hyper active Sarah running into the Library. She was holding 4 pieces of paper- 2 had drawings on them and two were covering half of each drawing. After greeting me enthusiastically, she showed me the papers. They both had what seemed to be a curve with spikes on it, but the other halves of the drawings were covered by the other papers, so it was difficult to tell what the image was. Then she said while holding out the papers, "Hey Sakura! Can you guess what they are?" I flickered my eyes to Sasuke, who looked annoyed, then turned them back to Sarah before shaking my head 'no'. "Well look!" she continued and uncovered the first drawing.

It was of a chicken, and the rounded spiky part was the chicken's but. Then she uncovered the second one and it was a drawing of Sasuke's profile, and the curved spiky part was the back of his hair.

"Look! Look! Sasuke has chicken-butt hair! Isn't that superfantabulous?!" I giggled, and turned back to Sasuke, who had his finger pointed towards the door of the Library and said 'out' to Sarah. Sarah bounced up and down a couple of times with a pout on her face, collected her papers, and ran through the exit, yelling, "Bye chicken-butt!" I laughed again and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at me – so I shut myself up.

* * *

When Naruto finally arrived, I was somewhat grateful. Even though he gave me a longish kiss (which was rather sloppy – I ended up wiping my mouth when he turned away), he broke the awkward silence between me and Sasuke while we were waiting for him to arrive. Apparently, Naruto and Sasuke went off searching for me in different directions, and Sasuke had thought to call me before Naruto did, making him the one to pick me up.

"Oops…" I realized that I had forgotten my knapsack at home in the rush to get into Sasuke's car. Naruto and Sasuke looked at me and I explained. Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto was more than happy to share his notebook and pencils with me. I then noticed how messy Naruto was. His binder was made up of unorganized loose-leafs and all his pencils and pens had bite marks on them, even the ones he gave me to use.

We first decided to plan out who would be doing what and when for the project. Step number one was to draw the focus, or in our case- a hand- from a view outside of the body. Naruto proclaimed that since he 'could not draw for beans', he was going to go raid Sasuke's kitchen for food. I didn't say anything, nor did Sasuke. I'm guessing we had a mutual feeling about not wanting Naruto working on any type of drawing related steps in fear of him screwing them up.

So that left Sasuke and I alone in the library again. For the first thirty seconds, Sasuke just stared at me. I found myself staring back, not that it was meant as some sort of brave act, but that he was just _so_ good to look at. Then, he raised an eyebrow, and I realized he was only looking at me because he wanted me to initiate the discussion of 'who was doing what'. I blushed and looked away as I usually do, but he kept on staring. How am I supposed to talk when his eyes or boring into me?

"Um, why don't you… erm, draw the picture… you're… really good… I could get started on the, uh, writing….stuff…" I offered in a half- strangled voice. He was _still_ looking at me. And when he continued staring, I got a little flustered and started rambling again. I swear my mouth is separate from my brain. This was a perfect example of it. Externally, I was blabbering about other ideas we could do, but internally, I was like, 'Shit! Shit! Shit! Stop talking!' Its funny how, when I am flustered, I have no problem in speaking freely to Sasuke, though when I am normal, all my courage and integrity is depleted.

I finally stopped when Sasuke interrupted – which I was thankful for, though it still was embarrassing.

"The first one." Was all he said, before getting himself his own pencils and paper. I gave a small nod before turning to the things Naruto had left me. Frankly, I didn't really want to touch them, because they looked a little nasty.

Where I was going to place the title of 'Step one, sketches', I noticed that the sheet of paper had _something_ stuck to it. Ew.

And I didn't even touch the pencils he let me use- I mean, I get enough of Naruto's mouth while I'm at school. I don't need to be drawing where he has bitten into.

Sasuke noticed my reluctance to touch Naruto's things, and after rolling his eyes again, he pulled out a couple more sheets and pencils from his knapsack and flicked them across the table, over to where I was.

I lightly jot-noted what I was going to do first, and then started the actual writing. I looked up every once in a while to see how Sasuke was doing, and in my head I decided that he was going to do all the drawings, because mine would look like two year old's scribbles compared to his. Of course, Sasuke finished before me and it was amazing. I took a little while longer because he was staring at me again so it was hard to concentrate, which was really awkward. When I finished my work, we showed each other what we did, and I ended up trying to compliment Sasuke on his work (but it really only came out as a jumble of words). Sasuke had just started to get on the good copy of drawing the hand when Naruto came back in. He had three cups of steaming instant ramen, but apparently, they were all for himself- though he did offer me some, I refused because he held out the noodles on the fork in his hands expecting me to lean forward and take a bite while he still held onto the it. And that was a little weird.

I kind of just sat there as Sasuke drew and Naruto inhaled his ramen. Again, kind of awkward. So I started doodling on the jot-notes that I did. When I got bored of that, I started twiddling with the pencil in between my fingers. But then it flew out of my hands and underneath my chair, and I had to bend over in such an embarrassing way – a way that half of my but was in the air, and one of my hands was flat on the ground. Then I heard Naruto, and I think my face spontaneously combusted.

"Hey! Stop checking out my girlfriend's ass!" he said while scowling at Sasuke. I shot right back up into a regular sitting position, eyes wide and forgetting the pencil completely. Sasuke gave a 'what-the-fuck?' death-glare to Naruto who scowled back. I sat there _very_ embarrassed and confused, my eyes flickering to each of the boys.

"What's an ass?"

All heads turned to see Sarah, standing innocently at the doorway of the library, head cocked to one side.

My eyebrows raised and my hand went to cover my mouth- to stop me from laughing or to stop an 'Oh my god', I'm not quite sure.

"Uhhhh, it's, uhhhhhh…" Naruto was at a same loss of words as I was.

"Nothing. And don't say it anymore." That was Sasuke, who looked at Sarah, then glared at Naruto.

Then Naruto suddenly spoke up, "It's a donkey!" That earned another glare from Sasuke. And a tiny giggle from me.

"Okay!" And Sarah skipped from the room. Sasuke went back to drawing the hand silently, and Naruto went back to eating his ramen. Again, I was left sitting there, until Sarah came running back in.

"Look! I got an ass! See!" she held out a donkey figurine, grinning proudly. My eyes widened and Sasuke sent a slightly exasperated, though still stoic look towards Sarah, who started dancing around the table singing Mary had a little lamb, except replacing 'lamb' with 'ass'. Naruto burst out laughing and I covered my mouth again, to stop my own giggles.

"Sarah," Sasuke started warningly, still sitting in his chair. Sarah kept on circling, this time making the donkey dance as well. "Sarah," he said again, but she kept ignoring him. "Sarah, stop it. Now." If I were Sarah, I would have probably run from the library and pray to god that he wouldn't come after me, because the look on his face and the twitch in his jaw muscles screamed 'Angry!'

I decided to try and intervene, maybe get on Sasuke's good side for once.

"Sarah," I asked a little quietly.

"Yeeesss!?" she continued to dance and sing, but at least she acknowledged me.

"Come here, I want to tell you a secret," and I motioned with my pointer finger for her to come. Sarah immediately stopped and stared with awe-filled eyes.

"Is it secret spy business?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"Uh, yeah" I answered, sort of winging it. Sarah came over in a tip-toe, then stood straight and saluted to me.

"Agent Superfantabulous, reporting for duty," she said still whispering.

"Okay, here is the secret," also whispering. I leaned over to her, to make it look like it was important, though I was very wary of Sasuke's passive stare and Naruto's amused look. "That word you were singing, we don't ever want to say that. Do you know why?" Sarah shook her head furiously while I though of what to say next. "That is the code word for the evil spy team. And if they hear it, they will attack."

"Oh no! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" though still whispering, Sarah's voice was filled with anxiety.

"It's okay, I don't think they heard you. But remember, don't say it." I replied, and leaned back sat back normally again.

"Don't say it." Sarah confirmed, than ran for the library exit. She stopped at the door though, and turned around to salute to me, before running off again, taking her donkey too.

When she left, Naruto burst out laughing again, and I felt really self-conscious. Sasuke glanced at me, and then continued working. It wasn't a glare, so I think I'm making progress.

And I can't even describe how happy that made me feel.

* * *

I had completely forgotten that Naruto and I had a date after Sasuke's. Luckily, he had reminded me before we left so I didn't look like idiot.

He took me out to dinner at a small pizza place, and I have to say, I did enjoy it (+1). There wasn't much kissing (+1) so I think that the only reason he does it so much at school is to show off or something. Anyway, after pizza, he took me for ice cream but ended up not having enough with him to pay for it, so I had to (-1). We then walked to a nearby park with our ice cream just talking about random things (+1), but a lot of jokes he made, I didn't really get (-1). But then, while we were still in the car just before I got out to my house he gave me a sort of 'goodbye kiss. And it was a _good_ type of kiss. Different from the ones at school, and very sweet (+2). But then his hand moved to my thigh at one point, and though it gave me shivers, it was still a little wrong/ fast/ not what I was comfortable with (-1). We set up another date for sometime on the weekend and I ran into my house after saying goodbye. So the date wasn't that great. If I added up my scores, it got a +2. Which I guess is okay. But I also found myself _not_ running to my room and squealing on my bed. And I'm not sure if that's good or not.

* * *

I haven't seen my mom in three days. I had gone straight to sleep when I returned from my date on Tuesday, but vaguely I remember as I walked up the stairs to my room, I had seen my dad in his bedroom – not the couch. The next morning she wasn't in the house, and I assumed she had an early morning meeting and had to leave early. But when I got back from school, she wasn't there. My dad and I had a quiet dinner by ourselves that night, and even later on in the evening, we hadn't heard from her. The next morning she still wasn't there and that's when I started to get really worried. I didn't dare ask my dad where she was – he's depressed enough already. He still acts like his usual self when I'm there, but when ever he thinks I'm not looking, he drops the act.

My mom hadn't returned after school or in the evening that day, and I found it very hard to get to sleep. The house was _so_ quiet, and it felt rather empty- Sam seemed a lot happier with the stress level tuned down to almost zero. The next day I finally told Ino about my mom disappearing, and she sympathized with me and since it was a Friday, I stayed over at her place for the night.

It was the morning when I finally saw her. I drove home from Ino's and my mom's car was in the driveway. She had greeted me warmly with a smile, a hug, and an 'Oh honey, I missed you.' I didn't smile back, instead, my brow furrowed and I asked her, "Where were you?" I was genuinely concerned with her whereabouts even though I'm not as close to her as I am with my dad. She shrugged it off and said, "I brought you something, come see what it is." She led me into the living room where she had a suitcase opened. I was confused and a little bit scared. If she had a suitcase then that meant she had planned to leave for a couple of days. But why didn't she tell me where she went?

I tried to sound happy when she showed me the gift, but I still was really concerned. It was a faded green skirt that went down to the knees. It was made out of a light material, so it almost looked like a beach wrap. She wanted me to try it on, so I did. When I came back to show her, she gushed on how it matched my eyes perfectly and how I looked so gorgeous. Though I liked the skirt, I didn't gush with her, I was still concerned.

"Where did you get it?" I asked her.

"This designing company that had just opened, one of my friends is the owner and head designer. The company let me bring home some samples for you." She answered. She avoided my question; she told me how she got it, but not where.

"Oh." I replied, "But _where_ did you get it?"

"How about I take you out to lunch? You can wear the skirt." Still avoiding my question.

"Um, Hinata and I were going to do something today," I lied – why was she being like this? _Where_ did she go?

"That's fine darling, we'll schedule another time, how about that?" my mom said, closing her suitcase.

"Um, okay." I answered, and she lugged the suitcase up the stairs to her room.

"Mom," I started, when she was half way up the stairs, "I missed you." I tried to look innocent and sad; maybe she would feel guilty and tell me.

"I missed you too darling," And she continued up the stairs. Dang it. Usually the innocent thing works.

The moment I heard her bedroom door close, I ran up to my room, took off the skirt and threw it into my closet, frustrated that she was acting so weird. I sat on my bed huffing with no pants on and Samuel on my lap. If I were Sarah, I'd call my mom a stupid-head.

Naruto took me out on a date on Sunday. We didn't do much though. He had gotten us ice cream and we walked around a bit. We didn't kiss as much, because I found different ways to inconspicuously avoid it though. Overall, it was a pretty boring Sunday.

That night, I contemplated my parents' relationship. First, I think all the arguing and fighting is started by my mom- she seems to be the one that has a problem with their marriage. Second, I think they only stay together because of me. I think that they will wait until I graduate, then they will divorce. Third, if they were to divorce sometime before I graduate, then I would probably stay with my dad. I'm a lot closer to him. And my mom doesn't like Samuel that much so he would stay with my dad (and I can't leave my Sammy).

After thinking about all of this I couldn't get to sleep, even with Samuel's comforting purrs. So I quietly went on the computer and played mindless online games. It was 3:30 am when I finally felt the effects of sleep come over me. I shut of the computer, and went to bed with my ipod playing, Sam curled up at my feet.

* * *

I really shouldn't have stayed up so late. I ended up falling asleep in Math and getting a half hour detention after school, and a couple blows to my self-esteem from all the people around me. I told Naruto that he and Sasuke could go ahead to his house and I'd arrive once I got through my detention. They agreed and Naruto gave me Sasuke's address because I didn't know the exact street and number.

It took me a while to find Sasuke's house. The concierge guy at the gate apparently knew of my arrival and let me in without any trouble (I _was_ a little nervous about that part) but a lot of the homes and streets in his community kind of look the same. I ended up stopping some random person who was walking by and asked where the Carter household was. He was surprised that I even asked – the Carter family was the most popular out of the community, even if they just recently moved in. I finally got the directions and made it to Sasuke's house, where the butler dude let me in.

I met Mr. Carter for the first time when I entered- he recognized me from Sarah's description of my pink hair, I recognized him from the drawing in Sasuke's sketchbook. Mr. Carter was very handsome, and there was no doubt that he was Sarah's father. He had short curly blonde hair, blue eyes and tanned skin. I think that if you put all of the Carter family together (subtract Sasuke), they would look like the perfect American family.

Mr. Carter and I briefly talked, mostly about how much Sarah enjoyed me babysitting her and how I would love to babysit her again. I also figured out that Mrs. Carter works in the same building as my dad, and that's how I came to babysit Sarah in the first place. Apparently Mr. Carter owns a large car dealership, which explains Sasuke's Maserati Diablo.

Before Mr. Carter and I parted, I asked where Sasuke and Naruto were, and he said they were probably in Sasuke's room. I very much wanted to see Sasuke's room, though I didn't tell Mr. Carter that. He gave me the directions and I took them:

Up the left staircase in the front hall, turn left and down the hall to the very end. Up the staircase to the right (not the left), to the middle of the hallway where there will be a large window that looks over the back yard. The staircase beside it leads to a landing where there are 2 double doors on the left and right walls, and a couple of steps straight ahead that lead to a single door. The single door is Sasuke's room.

Holy shit, thank goodness I didn't get lost. I knew the house was big, but not _that_ big. I'm guessing a lot of the house consisted of guest rooms because there were too many halls and doors to count. Some of the doors were open and I could see what was inside as I passed. A couple of doors contained art rooms and music rooms, and I desperately wanted to look through them, but I had to keep going while I still had the directions to Sasuke's room in my head. And when I passed the window that overlooked the backyard, I couldn't believe my eyes. He had a hot tub three times as big as mine, a huge pool and patio, an outdoor bar, a field with a soccer net, a small basketball court, and trampoline. I was surprised they didn't have a horse stable or something. I also felt really weird walking through the house alone because it was so big and I seemed so _small_.

Anyways, I finally got to Sasuke's room, where the door was closed. There were noises coming from inside (most sounding like Naruto) so I knocked twice and entered.

Sasuke's room was huge though simple, and it even smelled like Sasuke (not that I actually know his scent, but the slight whiff of cologne, aftershave, and the very fresh sort of smell – like it had just rained – seemed to suit him perfectly). The walls and carpet were navy blue and the ceiling and trim were white. He had a ladder that led to a loft which stretched all the way across the back wall. The loft was guarded by a railing at the edges, and held a bunch of blankets, pillows and mattresses which I assumed to be his bed. Above the loft, on the ceiling, was a sky light that looked accessible. It was probably used for sneaking out or something, because I think I saw a shoeprint near the window- on the ceiling. Plus, it looked that if you stood on the railing, you'd be tall enough to reach it.

On the right side of the room, near the wall that had the door I just entered from, was a white desk with a computer. Opposite to it on the other side of the room was a bookshelf, and on the left wall was an open door that led to a closet and probably a bathroom. Beneath the loft was a large TV, a black leather couch, 2 bean bags, and a couple of game systems.

The colours of basically everything else in the room were white, black, or navy blue – a little boring, but sophisticated. I also noticed that in some places, there was a red and white fan. Like there was one on the wall, and I think there was one sewn into some of his pillows and comforters, but it was to far away to see for sure.

Currently, Sasuke and Naruto were playing a Star Wars game for Xbox (shouldn't they be working?). Sasuke was slouched on the couch holding the controller lazily, face passive. Naruto was on one of the beanbags, his tongue occasionally sticking out, face contorted in concentration and letting out obscenities or "Come on! SHOOT HIM! DIE DIE DIE!' every few seconds while he jammed his fingers over the controller. I'm guessing Sasuke was winning then.

"Um, hi," I said after entering fully and closing the door behind me. I was acknowledged by Sasuke with a flicker of his eyes to me then back to the TV. He said nothing.

"Hey… Sakura!" Naruto yelled, still caught up in the game. His sentences were fragmented – he would speak and then focus on the game, then speak again – sometimes words would be louder than others and sometimes held longer than others. It _was_ kind of funny. So when he invited me to sit down in the other beanbag (which was near Sasuke's feet- I will be so close to him!) it sounded something like this: WHY… don't… yoooouuuu…come… SIT OVER HERE… on… the other… beeeeeaaaaaaannn… BAG!

Trying not to distract them, I half- tiptoed to the other bean bag and sat down- right in front of Sasuke. The bean bag was so squishy, I felt like I was sinking in it. It took me a while and a couple of awkward positions to actually find a comfortable spot, and I blushed – feeling like a loser while doing it. After getting comfortable, I finally realized HOW close I was to Sasuke- my head was almost touching his shins!

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke was just about to beat Naruto when Sakura sat down in front of him, distracting him. It wasn't that she was blocking the TV or that she was moving around, probably trying to get comfortable – it was her hair brushing against his shins and her arms lightly touching, not even purposefully, his legs. He looked down to see _exactly_ where she was situated.

In between his legs.

It wasn't intentional – before Sakura came his legs were already on either side of the beanbag, too lazy to move it. And Sakura had sat down probably oblivious to that fact. And Sasuke knowing that fact found it hard to concentrate.

So now he was closer to winning than Naruto, but struggling – because every time she moved, her hair or arms would brush against his short clad legs, touching the exposed bare skin.

And it made him twitch.

Every damn time.

And he didn't even know why he was twitching. He had had plenty of girls in that region before, and neither of them made him do this. Maybe it was because she was off limits and presented a challenge. Or maybe it was the fact that she was so much more innocent compared to all the other girls that had encountered him.

Anyways, she was _really_ distracting him. Very much so. It was like the many times when they were in the art room or cafeteria and all he could hear was her voice, no matter how much other people were talking. And Sasuke couldn't find a word to describe _why_ it happened – the hearing her voice and making him twitch – so he just settled for calling it 'annoying'.

"Um, shouldn't we be working?" asked Sakura, to no one in particular. Naruto didn't hear her or he was too occupied, because he didn't answer.

"Finished." Sasuke replied, not knowing exactly why he answered her.

"The three drawings? They're all, um, done?" She asked, confusion present in her voice.

"Desk." He answered shortly over Naruto's grunting. Sasuke had finished the rest of the drawing by himself out of sheer boredom after Sakura and Naruto left that Tuesday. It was also an excuse to get Sarah to leave him alone – using the 'I'm doing homework. Don't disturb me' excuse.

"Oh… okay." Sakura said, and got up to walk awkwardly, from sliding around in the bean bag, over to the desk. Sasuke used this time to gain control of the game and actually, finally, win. But it was once again hard to, because he heard her gasps and "Oh wow's" as she looked at his drawings. Sasuke suppressed a smirk – she almost sounded like Sarah when she discovered something new.

_Typical, _he thought- it wasn't the first time someone fawned over his work.

But then Sakura started giggling. It was only when she murmured 'chicken-butt' to herself and then said slightly louder, "Sarah's pretty good at drawing for a six-year old," that he realized why she was giggling. Sarah had probably put her drawings of himself and the chicken with his project. "The nose is a little big though, and the hair a little too spiky." She continued talking – making remarks on the relation between the picture of Sasuke and Sasuke himself. And it was still making it hard to concentrate. He couldn't even tune her out. It was like there was a headphone's jack plugged into her, and the speakers were in his ears.

She finally stopped talking and Sasuke could concentrate, though there was a little nagging feeling in the back of his mind that was asking 'what is she doing now?' Luckily, that nagging thing wasn't enough to overtake his concentration, and he beat Naruto easily within minutes of when the distractions stopped.

"Aw! Fuck! I was SO close!" Naruto yelled, moving to a sitting position. "So close!" He continued and let his head loll back to where he saw Sakura, who was still looking around the desk. "Hey, Sakura! You wanna play?"

Sasuke grimaced slightly, but didn't say anything. Sakura answered with an "Um, I don't know."

"Come on! It will be fun! Sit back down in the bean bag! Sasuke – give your controller to Sakura!" Naruto yelled again, getting more enthusiastic. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto and reluctantly extended the arm with the controller towards Sakura.

"Um, Okay." Sakura replied and nervously took the remote from Sasuke. "But I don't have Star Wars for my Xbox, and I've never played it before," she said and sat back down into the bean bag.

"What games do you have?" asked Naruto.

"Um, Dance Dance Revolution?" she answered, and blushed slightly.

Naruto made a face before saying, "Stupid. This is much more fun. Now," he continued, showing her his controller, "The A button is to jump, R to shoot, circle to crouch and square as an action. It's really easy."

"Um, okay…" To Sasuke, Sakura still didn't seem to get the controls as quickly as Naruto explained them. It bothered him how he was concerned about whether or not she knew how to play.

"Great! Let's start!" Naruto picked a battlefront and walked Sakura through the beginning until the battle actually started, where he was too concentrated for his own player to remember to help Sakura.

Sakura seemed hopeless. Within seconds of the battle starting, she had already died twice. And when she wasn't busy getting shot, she was still trying to figure out the controls.

Sasuke watched in some amusement at how pathetic she played, and even though the accidental brushes she made against his skin made him twitch, he wasn't playing, so he didn't mind it as much. Sakura still didn't notice these accidental touches, she was to busy trying to figure out how not to die. After the ninth time that she died, Sasuke decided to intervene.

An opponent was shooting at Sakura at the moment and she couldn't figure out how to shoot back. That was when Sasuke bent down, so he was practically leaning over her, his head almost on her shoulder, right beside her cheek. He put his right hand over her right hand, and pressing down the R button so she could shoot back. Sakura became extremely red and stuttered thank you's and okay's. Sasuke found this fairly amusing, so he stayed like that until the enemy died. Then, with his head still close to hers, "Press the R button to shoot. You'll die if you don't." Sakura became even more flustered and started rambling, losing focus of the game. This amused Sasuke even more, and he wondered how many times he could make her flustered and nervous. He _enjoyed_ seeing her flustered and nervous.

So for the next 45 minutes, Sakura and Naruto played Star Wars, and Sasuke tried to make Sakura flustered. Every attempt he made, he exceeded, which pushed him more, wanting to see _how_ flustered she could get. How _far _he could get until she or Naruto said something.

So the instances continued, like when Sasuke leaned over again, this time putting his left hand over her left and pressing down on the L button. Then he said in her ear, "The L button switches weapons. This one is more effective against your opponent." And instead of sitting back up normally, he made his hand lazily drag up her arm as he sat back. She became, once again, highly flustered and nervous, and started rambling on about random things until she calmed down. He also felt her shiver, and he smirked at that, somehow reveling in it. And this happened many, _many_ more times. It was a little disappointing though because Naruto didn't get pissed or annoyed; he was too focused on the game to notice.

After another hour of videogame playing and flustering Sakura, Mrs. Carter knocked on the door and entered. After greeting them all, she stated that dinner would be ready in 15 minutes, and offered for Naruto and Sakura to stay as well. Sakura declined, saying she should get home for dinner, but Naruto accepted (because he always did).

Sasuke decided to make Sakura flustered one more time before she left, and that was when she was walking out the door. He had intentionally stared at her as she walked by, and when he got her attention, he smirked and tilted his head slightly to one side. She blushed madly and rambled some 'goodbyes' before rushing out. Naruto didn't even have time to give her a kiss, something Sasuke was unknowingly relieved about.

He and Naruto decided to watch TV until someone came to tell them it was time for dinner. And while Naruto was channel surfing, Sasuke realized two things.

ONE: He _liked_ it when Sakura got flustered. He decided that every time they saw each other, or had to get together for the project, he would somehow make her flustered.

TWO: He hadn't once referred to Sakura as 'paper towel girl' the whole time she was there.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

What the frig happened there?! I thought it would be a work hour or something! Not a 'what-the-hell-is-Sasuke-doing-to-me?' hour. I mean, could he _get_ any closer?!

First, we weren't even working, Second, I was in Sasuke's room, and third, what was that _stuff_ he was doing? Is he trying to make me, like, permanently embarrassed? Jeez! And even though I was all 'wtf' at what happened today, it was a disappointment when we agreed that we didn't need to get together on Sunday to work because we had all the drawings done. Though I was kind of relieved that I could miss a chance at embarrassing myself, I was a little sad that I wasn't going.

But you know what was the coolest thing ever? Okay, well when Sasuke reached over to press the buttons for me (what brought him to do _that_?!) I noticed that on the inside of his wrist, there was a black tattoo. It depicted three sixes, all with their bottoms facing towards the centre of the tattoo. Then when he did it again, except with the other hand, I noticed he had the exact same tattoo in the same place, just on the other wrist! This discovery made me randomly excited, and the next day, I definitely decided to ask Naruto about it in instrumental.

According to Naruto, those aren't the only tattoos Sasuke has – there are a total of three on his body. According to Naruto, the first one is where his left shoulder meets his neck, and it's basically the same to the ones on his wrist, except it has a circle thing that kind of looks like a sun around it. The second one, according to Naruto, is on his shoulder blades- an outline of a hand on each one. And, according to Naruto, the third one is on his lower back, and it's of the red fan that was also in his room. According to Naruto, the fan is the symbol of his last name, but he didn't tell me any more than that, though I believe he could have.

And when I said, 'that's so cool!' when referring to Sasuke's tattoos, Naruto exclaimed that he also had one- it was on his stomach. And then he showed it to me as we were leaving instrumental. Might I say that Naruto has a _really,_ REALLY toned stomach? I had to bite my lip to keep from drooling! And the tattoo was really, really cool too – it was a spiral with a kind of circle-type-sun thing around it. But, if I were him, I wouldn't have gotten it on my stomach, because what happens when you're older and you go out or something? The settlement of it is a little obnoxious – but at least it matches his personality.

When we walked into biology, Sasuke was in his usual seat and we sat next to him as always. Before we sat down, I remembered that though we had completed the drawings for our project, we hadn't come up with a presentation yet. We then decided that we would meet at Sasuke's house on Sunday to finish that part up because the presentation for it was the class after the weekend.

Once that was sorted out, Naruto and I sat down and got settled. But this time, I was seated in between them. Naruto on my right, and Sasuke on my left. And it was _really_ awkward.

Especially half-way through the class, when I noticed that Sasuke didn't have a high-collared shirt like he usually does. So I kind of pushed my chair back a bit, and leaned a little to the left, hoping to maybe see his left shoulder, and to maybe get a glimpse of his tattoo. But then Sasuke caught me, and turned to look at me. I froze; my face _very _close to his. And then he leaned the tiniest bit forward towards me, and I blushed furiously, trying not to start rambling so I wouldn't catch the attention of the rest of the class. He leaned even further towards me, and I was like a statue – not even blinking.

"You should pay attention." He whispered in a low voice (though it was still passive). And it took every ounce of my self control to not close the tiny space between us and jump him. Except really, I would never do that, no matter how badly I wish I could.

In the blink of an eye, he was back in his original position- and if I hadn't known better, I would've thought that I had day-dreamed the whole thing. It then occurred to me that I was still in the very uncomfortable position of leaning to the left. So after straightening myself out, I tried to pay attention to Mr. Kakashi. But I was oh so very distracted by Sasuke. Every one of his movements my eye would catch, and sometimes I found myself unconsciously tuning out the rest of the world and watching him out of the corner of my eye.

And then, as I was finally able to actually work, Sasuke lifted his arm to scratch the spot where his left shoulder meets his neck. It was like he _knew_ that I was trying to see his tattoo. But there was one thing that didn't fit- I didn't see any tattoo.

Maybe it was because I just blinked when it showed momentarily, or maybe it was because it wasn't near the spot he scratched- or MAYBE he just didn't have a tattoo there and Naruto had either mistaken it for something else or it was in the wrong spot.

Either way, I tried to find out. So after waiting a couple of minutes to make sure no one was looking, I slowly leaned to the left again.

But Sasuke's shoulder was out of my line of vision, so I leaned a little bit more to the left.

Nope. Still couldn't see it.

Leaning even further to the left, I stupidly and embarrassingly lost my balance – my chair tilted to one side and I found myself falling. Reaching out with flailing arms, I tried to grab anything to keep me balanced. Unfortunately, that 'anything' was Sasuke's shirt, and it didn't keep me balanced. Instead it pulled his weight to lean on the back of his chair and made him lose his balance as well.

And I found both of us falling.

I hit the ground with a rather painful thump on my back, and Sasuke landed with his head _on my chest._

Yup. He sure did have that tattoo. With my hand still clutching his shirt, it stretched the collar far enough for me to see where his shoulder meets his neck- and the tattoo was definitely there. Mission Accomplished.

Well, sort of.

I was too shocked to move, especially with his head _on my chest_. And after a couple of moments of just laying there in shock, I heard Sasuke say in that same low whisper,

"Well this is comfortable."

My eyes widened to golf balls while he reached behind his head to untangle my hands from his shirt (and his hands were _very_ nice and warm). But as he did that, his hands swept across _certain places_ accidentally (at least I _hope_ it was accidentally), because his head was _on my chest_. Some of the spikes in his hair just happened to brush against my neck as well, and I'm just going to mention that his hair was soooooo soft (I think it's natural), it was hard not pull him back down to run my fingers through it.

Anyways, he slowly stood up after disentangling us and sat back down in his seat as if nothing happened.

But something _did_ happen, because I was on the floor. And I just realized everyone- EVERYONE- was staring at me. I shot up like a bullet into a sitting position, though I was still on the floor, and blushed so hard I think I burnt a layer of skin off.

Naruto, once the situation registered, stood up and helped me to my feet, all the while he was yelling at Sasuke on how he was such a clumsy idiot – though truthfully it really was the opposite and I was the clumsy one.

After that whole ordeal passed and the class had stopped laughing at me, Mr. Kakashi resumed his teaching, though he seemed to be smiling secretively at something. I kept my head down with my hair covering my face as it was still unbelievably red and I was still unbelievably embarrassed.

But remember how each of Sasuke's movements caught my eye? Well, I definitely caught him smirking while quickly glancing in my direction. That only boosted the embarrassment meter up twelve hundred steps.

I avoided talking to anyone as I escaped from class when the period ended. I walked quickly and directly towards my locker to grab my things and skedaddle. But Naruto caught me and gave me a quick 'goodbye' peck before I ran off to my car.

When I got home, I noticed that the phone had a message waiting. When I checked it, the caller turned out to be Mrs. Carter asking if I could babysit Sarah on Saturday. Even though I didn't need the money, I called back and confirmed that I could babysit. Mrs. Carter thanked me and also said that I would be babysitting at their house this time. Sometimes I wonder why I am to babysit Sarah when they have all those maids and butlers and people. Oh well.

I found myself searching the computer on Google Images for pictures that would be good for a tattoo – if I were to get one (which I probably won't). I chose a really pretty picture of a cherry blossom and decided that if I were to get it, it would be on my back near my left shoulder. But I also found myself searching the other designs that Sasuke had for his tattoos. Some of the history behind them was kind of disturbing, though some things I found interesting. For example, the hands that were apparently on his shoulder blades stood for 'Flapping One Thousand Birds', which was a symbol for protecting comrades- but could also be used for severing those ties to the comrades. I wonder why Sasuke chose that one.

* * *

A couple of days later in art class, Ms. Lunids assigned us our 'super project' which is a smaller version of a culminating activity before Christmas break (even though it's only nearing the end of October). This time it was an actual _normal_ project, which I am thankful for. Basically, we have to paint picture of something significant to us. It sounds pretty easy, but I'm not the greatest artist when it comes to painting people, so I decided to pick someone easy to do – Samuel. I mean, he's important to me, and a lot easier to draw than a person. I looked over to see who Hinata decided to do, and she's doing her cousin, Neji. Apparently, not long after I talked with him that one morning with Naruto, he and Tenten decided to become an item. I don't really know them that well, but they look like a pretty cute couple to me.

I also got a peek at who Sasuke decided to do while I was inconspicuously walking by – his sister, Sarah. I'm surprised because before he kind of wanted to keep her secret, but now he is doing a whole painting of her. And I saw the picture he was thinking of using and it's _so_ adorable! She has one of her innocent and angelic smiles on her face, and she's holding a stuffed dog; I hope she acts the way she looks in the picture when I babysit her on Saturday.

* * *

Unfortunately, Sarah didn't want to act innocent and angelic when I was babysitting her. Since we were at her place this time, she thought she could do anything.

So after Mr. and Mrs. Carter left (I don't know where Sasuke was), we decided to play dress-up because she had a 'superfantabulous' idea.

But the idea wasn't even close to being 'superfantabulous'.

At the beginning she behaved though. She had shown me her room- which is every six year old child's dream. Huge, sparkly, and toy- filled, Sarah's room looked like it popped out from a fairytale book. And her bed was even modeled into a horse drawn carriage, while the rest of the furniture consisted of pieces that looked like miniature castles and trees. The walls were even painted to look like a 3D fairytale- so the theme to our dress-up game was 'Fairytales'.

Sarah had decided that she was going to wear some of her mom's _very_ expensive and _very _valuable clip-on earrings when playing dress-up. And she told me that they were, in fact, very expensive and valuable just before she ran away yelling, "Hide and go Seek! Hide and go Seek!"

So I had to search the whole entire freaking mansion to find her. And I barely even know how to get to Sasuke's room again, how does she expect me to find her in such a humungous house?

By using the maids and butlers of course.

After searching for a couple of minutes, I decided to ask the house's staff where Sarah went. And guess where they pointed me? To Sasuke's room.

It took me a long time to finally find his room again, and when I got there, it took me just as much time to find her.

Sarah had hidden herself in all the many blankets, pillows, and mattresses of Sasuke's bed in the loft. Not only did she make me climb up there (which I didn't mind so much), but she made me catch her while she scampered and reburied herself amongst the bed.

When I finally caught her, I noticed something _very_ wrong. Sarah was only wearing one earring.

Meaning the other _very_ expensive and _very_ valuable earring was lost amidst the blankets.

It took us 1 whole friggin hour to find the stupid earring, and just as we finally found it, guess who walked in?

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke decided to leave the party he was at early, because there was no alcohol at all, and his stupid fangirls were all over him. Plus Karin was being a fucking idiot trying to get him alone in a guest room all not. Not happening. Especially since he was sober. The only problem was that because he left the party early, he would be home early, meaning he would have to babysit Sarah (though it would give him another chance to make Sakura flustered…).

He entered his house to hear nothing but the obvious sounds of the house's staff working, though he should be hearing one of Sarah's ridiculous songs and Sakura's voice.

After doing a quick sweep through the house, he heard noises coming from up stairs.

From his room.

Sasuke should have predicted that at some point in time, Sarah would end up in his room, which he didn't mind so much – but what peeved him was the fact that it wasn't just Sarah in his room, but Sakura too. Alone.

He opened the door to a position he didn't expect to see the two girls in.

Sarah was fast asleep on the couch below the loft, while in the loft was Sakura- half covered in his blankets and pillows.

Once Sakura realized that Sasuke had walked in, she awkwardly froze in place- half buried, half crawling. And stayed like that for another thirty seconds.

Sasuke just scowled, walked towards Sarah, and picked her up to carry her to her own room. When he returned, Sasuke found Sakura, not in the loft, but standing on the ground near the latter, holding one of Marie's earrings. One of her _very_ expensive _very_ valuable earrings.

But Sasuke didn't even have to ask why she was in his room, in his loft, holding his adoptive mother's earring – because the moment he opened his mouth, Sakura blurted out the whole story.

And Sasuke managed, after the over-blown ramblings of Sakura, to make her flustered too – he walked towards her, keeping his intense gaze on her face, and continued to stare at her even when he was towering over her.

With his body _very_ close to hers, he bent down to say in that voice he always does around her – the one that is a partial whisper and very low,

"I think it's time you go now."

And he took Sakura's hand, making her face turn tomato red. He then opened the fist that held the earring and switched the jewelry for the money she earned that night. He also made sure to make his fingers linger a little longer than usual, to make the effect work that much more on her.

It was quite humorous - Sakura was like a metal detector, where Sasuke was the metal. Every time he came really close to her, she would turn read and start rambling really fast. And when he moved back a little, her face would redden less and her rambling wouldn't come as quickly.

"Tomorrow." He said, before backing away and _sauntered_ towards his bathroom/ closet. Also, in the process of walking there, he started to pull of his shirt as if to get ready for bed. He then made sure that his shirt was fully off, and that Sakura had a glimpse of his bare back (tattoos and all) before he threw it to the side and closed the bathroom/closet door.

Sasuke turned on the shower and waited until he heard Sakura leave, before undressing and getting in. But it took her a _long_ time to leave – almost 5 minutes. She was probably still standing in his room staring at where his form used to be and trying to recall what image she still had of his bare torso.

Which was exactly the reaction he wanted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

Halloween is on Tuesday! I'm so excited! Though I am a little worried that it will rain that day, because the sky has been overcast lately.

What I am not excited for is Sasuke's today.

Well, that's not entirely true.

Actually it's not true at all- I'm kind of looking forward to it…

But is it his new life goal to make me embarrassed all the time? I mean, I don't think there hasn't been a day where Sasuke didn't make me blush. Especially last night, when he just had to get so close and give me the money in that really hot way. He doesn't _have_ to do it – it's getting annoying!

Actually that was a lie too…

I kind of… like it. But only a little…

Anyways, we had planned to get together early, at like, 11 am, so we could get the presentation over and done with. It probably won't take long though; I mean how hard is it to make up a presentation about hands?

Actually, now that I said that, it might take longer than it should; considering Naruto being kind of stupid, and Sasuke, well, being Sasuke.

So it was almost 11 when I drove up to the Carter's house (might I mention there were mysterious ticking noises in my car as I drove there). I guess the guy at the gate of the community now recognizes me- I was let in easily.

I walked up to the front door, where a butler or some sort of house staff let me in- but when I got inside, no one was there.

Well the occasional house staff would walk by, but Sasuke, nor any of the Carters were anywhere in sight. And I didn't really know what to do (should I wait? Should I ask? Should I look for them?), so I sat down on the bench in the front hall (though the front hall was so big you could probably call it a lobby).

So I waited there, feeling a little awkward.

Until Sasuke entered the 'lobby'. I think I felt my jaw drop all the way to the floor.

Sasuke was wearing dangerously low, flannel, plaid, pajama pants, _and nothing on top _(tattoos, abs and all)_._ A toothbrush was sticking out of his mouth as if he was in the middle of brushing his teeth, and he held a piece of toast lazily in one hand. He also had what Ino likes to call 'sex hair' meaning that it looked fairly normal, but quite disheveled (according to Ino it's as if they just had sex… in case you didn't catch that). I'm assuming he just woke up, because he had a slightly tired expression, and the toothbrush and pj's were a dead giveaway. I'm also assuming he just came out of the kitchen – hence the toast.

As he walked through the 'lobby', he used his free hand to tiredly scratch his chest, and in the middle of doing that was when he noticed another presence in the room.

Which was me.

His hand halted as well as his body, for like, two seconds, when he saw me- then continued scratching as he raised an eyebrow and continued his journey to and up the stairs – probably back to his room.

Overall, it was the _hottest_ thing I have _ever_ seen in my life.

And I'm pretty sure I hyperventilated after he was fully out of sight, because I definitely had to put my head in between my legs to keep myself breathing normally.

And that was when Naruto came in the front door. Not even noticing that I was having a spaz attack, he flopped down beside me with an arm around the back of the bench and a lazy smile as he said, "Hey Sakura!"

My head popped up and I resumed a normal sitting position as my face turned red (though not as red as it had been when I saw Sasuke- just the reminder of that made me blush harder).

"Hi!" My voice came out slightly strangled.

"So," He looked around, "what are you waiting here for?"

"Um, Sasuke-" I had to stop and clear my throat- my voice was still strangled, "I don't think Sasuke is… Um, I don't think he's, er, ready yet…"

"That's cool, we can just chill until he comes down." And then suddenly his face was _very_ close to mine. "Why are you so red?"

"Um, well….It's nothing." I said, and waved a hand as if to brush it off. But Naruto persisted.

"Are you sure?" He poked my cheek, "'Cause you are _really _red."

"Heh, heh…" I could only let out a very squeaky half-giggle.

"But you know what?" He said, bringing the hand that had poked me to the side of my face, then letting it slide to the back of my neck, "I think it's pretty cute." And then he gave me this really adorable smile – but it was almost sickening – not because of the butterflies in my stomach, but because I think I saw him as almost a brother for a second there.

And it became worse because he started kissing me. And though I responded, the whole time I was having some sort of revelation.

It kept on occurring to me that I saw Naruto as a brother-like figure – not a boyfriend – as we were kissing. Because, looking back, everything we did was really cheesy, and the way we reacted to each other was very childish when I wasn't pretending to like what he was doing. But then I thought, no – this couldn't be happening, because I had finally gotten to go out with my crush.

So I tried kissing back, hoping to pass the sickening feeling as me just being stupid. And I tried putting some enthusiasm into the kiss – which I'm sure Naruto enjoyed – but it just didn't feel _right._

When I heard footsteps, I turned my head to see Sasuke dressed in clean clothes coming down the stairs, but Naruto – because he lost access to my mouth, decided to kiss along my jaw and neck. Which was very uncomfortable, because Sasuke walked passed us, back into the kitchen, all the while with his eyes on us, giving me speculative looks.

"Naruto-" I started as I turned around – but I was cut off by his lips on mine again. Apparently Naruto had gotten very enthusiastic, and I even heard him whisper in between contact, "Forget the bastard."

But how could I forget him when he just walked back into the lobby?

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

They were practically _eating each other's faces off._ Well, Sakura wasn't doing anything – she actually looked like she was trying to escape. It was Naruto that was _all over her_.

Sakura was probably having the experience of being kissed by a dog.

Sasuke had walked out of the kitchen for the second time that morning, this time with a large bowl of cheerios. And now the cheerios didn't look as appetizing as they did before. He didn't know _why_ Naruto and Sakura making out was bothering him – it just _was_.

But then he realized this would be a perfect time to embarrass Sakura, so it was okay again.

"If you two are finished, I'd like to get this presentation done." Sasuke said, walking into the library. He turned his head slightly to glance behind him – just in time to see Sakura jump up, face read. Naruto had lost his balance and almost fell over.

After entering the library, Sasuke sat down in one of the chairs, and started to eat his cheerios. Sakura came in soon after, seemingly eager to get away from Naruto, and set out her paper and pencils. Naruto came in not long after, with a huge grin across his face.

* * *

It didn't take them long to come up with a presentation, though it was probably frustrating for Sakura, though amusing for Sasuke.

Even though it was obvious that Naruto had no idea what he was talking about, he insisted that he new what his part was and would 'have it down pat by tomorrow'. But there were over a thousand different reasons to doubt Naruto's claim – most of them about Naruto being stupid.

Sasuke had completed his part easily, with no problems. Though he did notice a certain person having trouble with her own. And Sasuke knew that Sakura was capable of coming up with an acceptable part for the presentation, it was just that she seemed distracted.

He first noticed this when he felt her staring at him- but when he looked up, she would look away, blushing madly. Then he realized that she wasn't necessarily staring at him – but the spoon in his hand.

Every time Sasuke lifted up his spoon, Sakura's eyes would follow, and when he put the spoon in his mouth, Sakura seemed to not only continue to stare, but unconsciously lick her lips as well.

It was as if Sakura was setting up all these embarrassing moments for herself just so Sasuke could make her flustered – because there hasn't been one time they've gotten together where Sasuke hadn't somehow embarrassed her.

But Sakura wouldn't do that. She was _different_ from the other fangirls that would usually cling to Sasuke. And, though he would hate to admit it, it was little bit of a relief.

Especially because she was one of the easiest people to embarrass. Like when Sasuke purposely made it visible that he knew Sakura was watching him. He had slowly, maybe seductively, brought the full spoon to his mouth and locked eyes with Sakura as he took a bite. Yes, it was a strange action, but it got the expected effect nonetheless.

Sakura had looked completely shocked, then really embarrassed as her face became an astounding shade of red, and she started rambling "um's" and "I'm sorry's". Sasuke had done nothing after that – he just pretended like it never happened (though secretly enjoying the girl's discomfort).

* * *

_—Sakura—_

Our science presentation had been a complete disaster on Monday – courtesy of Naruto.

He definitely didn't know what he was saying and completely blanked – so I had to fill in for him. And since I didn't know his part very well, I had to wing it.

Though Sasuke did offer smaller details or examples where I failed to mention them, the presentation still sucked. Big time.

But I did notice, after the presentation when we were handing in the drawings, that Mr. Kakashi had a tattoo, and it was the same three sixes in a circle that Sasuke had, though there was only one and only on his left wrist. I thought that was pretty strange, but I was too nervous and shy to actually ask anyone about it (especially Mr. Kakashi and Sasuke).

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

_...what?_

It was the same, though somehow different. He was in his house, but at the front door, and it seemed as though he didn't live there anymore. Sasuke looked down to see himself in a suit – which was slightly odd considering he only wore suits if he was forced into one of Marie's work functions. What was even odder though was that Sarah was standing in front of him, except she looked to be in her early teens. But what made the situation the oddest was the fact that he was holding a baby that looked just like him and…

A diaper bag.

"He just fell asleep after a huge tantrum – if he wakes up, just feed him a bottle." Sasuke said, the words naturally rolling out of his mouth, handing the bundle in his arms over to Sarah who nodded and started quietly gushing about the baby she held. "We'll be back at midnight." He continued, and Sarah nodded again, eyes locked on the baby in her arms.

He then walked outside to his car after closing the door behind him. But his car wasn't a Maserati Diablo; it was a black Bugatti Veyron. He got into his _very_ expensive car and let out a large sigh.

"Is he still sleeping?" said a voice beside him. Sasuke turned to see… Sakura _(what?)_ in the passenger's seat looking very… _luscious _(Sakura? _Luscious?_) in a red dress.

_She's so different_.

He nodded in reply and started the engine. "Whew," Sakura continued, "That was one _hell_ of a tantrum."

_And yet… the same?_

Sasuke nodded, but then did something he doesn't usually do – he made a compliment. "You… handled it well." He said, sounding slightly awkward.

Sakura gave a genuine smile, "Thanks, honey," (hold up, _honey?_) and she leaned in for a kiss, which Sasuke willingly replied to. When she pulled away, he put the car in reverse and backed out the driveway.

…And then Sasuke woke up.

He lay there for quite some time in the mass of blankets and pillows that was his bed, contemplating what the _hell_ that dream was about and what could possibly provoke it to happen.

And when he couldn't figure out an answer, he decided to pass it off as nothing.

But it wasn't working. Images of the dream kept on flashing into his mind; fourteen year old Sarah, the baby in his arms, the diaper bag, his Bugatti Veyron, Sakura, _kissing_ Sakura.

He then realized that it would be futile to try and go back to sleep, at least not with the dream on is mind.

Sighing, he groggily stood up, stretched, and then planted one of his feet onto the railing that bordered the loft. In one quick, fluid movement, he hoisted himself onto that foot, flicked the latch to a portion of the skylight above, pushed it open, and grabbed onto the ledge of the ceiling. He made sure his grip was secure before pulling himself up and onto the roof.

Now outside, he could feel the cool breeze of the night air.

Going through the skylight and onto the roof was something that Sasuke did often – either for sneaking out (because he could easily scale the back of the house) or for the current predicament he was in now, where he couldn't get to sleep.

Because the roof was away from any civilization that could reach him and at this time of night, it was practically silent, it created a place of serenity. Sitting there he could see the ocean in the distance, the highway behind him, and up above, the stars.

Except the stars weren't visible that night. The sky was covered in a vast sheet of gray storm cloud-foreshadowing rain. He could feel it in the humidity, how the moisture in the air clung to his skin though the cool breeze off the waterfront would make him shiver.

Sasuke walked towards the backend of the roof, facing the ocean, knowing exactly how many steps he needed to take to reach the edge. He sat down, a foot from the perimeter, and stared.

And thought of nothing else but of the black water ahead, and the noise of the waves, and the silent beach, and the cool breeze – and definitely not of the weird feeling in his stomach every time he thought of Sakura as he sat there on the roof.

No, he definitely wasn't thinking of that.

Or the fact that the weird feeling seemed to affect the temperature outside and how it got seemingly a couple of degrees warmer when he pictured her face. Which is certainly not the reason why he decided to head back inside to the air conditioned room because it was getting a little too hot (despite the fact that he still shivered from the wind).

Going through the skylight feet first, he found a good grip on the edge of the roof. He let himself dangle by his hands momentarily – giving his torso a good stretch – before swinging back down onto the loft.

He lay down on his back among the blankets and pillows, the chilled air of the room a relief to the temperature he (apparently) felt outside. But as his body heat slowly cooled to equilibrium, he found that it was too cold.

He found that he still couldn't get to sleep.

He found that if he rolled over and thought about her, he could.

So he rolled over, closing his eyes, hating himself for it, and did just that.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

HALLOWEEN! I'm so excited! I definitely am dressing up!

You would usually think that a seventeen year old in grade 11 wouldn't dress up, but it changes when your school tends to be competitive with others- EVERYBODY dresses up. And the part that I'm excited for is later tonight. Ino, Hinata, and I don't really _go_ trick-or-treating; we dress up, walk around the neighborhood, and go to Starbucks. There are also a couple of parties that aren't on the bad-shit list, so we stop by them sometimes. But I don't know if we actually _can_ go trick or treating, because the sky is overcast, and it looks like it's going to rain.

Anyways, this year Ino, Hinata and I all decided to be fairies. So when I woke up, I put on a pink tank top and a green pixie-skirt-type-thing. Then I put on pink ballet flats for shoes and small green fairy wings on my back. After straightening my hair, I used eyeliner and eye shadow to design a flower at the corner of my eye. Then I went to school.

Ino and Hinata had similar costumes to mine, except Ino's was blue and Hinata's was purple. Choji hadn't done much- he was dressed in red with a string tied around his ankle, claiming to be a balloon. I noticed Lee was dressed in some sort of prince attire, and proclaimed his undying love to me while striking his 'good guy' pose, before running off to somewhere- probably looking for Mr. Gai.

One of the costumes that surprised me was Naruto's. He had skipped over to me at my locker, wearing orange fox ears and a fox tail.

"Hey Sakura! Look! I'm foxy! See," He said, pointing to the ears on his head.

I think I died a little on the inside. But I ended up laughing on the outside.

The costume that surprised me the most was Sasuke's – because he didn't wear one. I mean, EVERYBODY wears costumes – even if they are only a small accessory- they still claim to be something. But when I was in Spanish class with Ino, I overheard Sasuke saying 'nothing' to all of his fangirls when they asked what he was supposed to be. Party Pooper.

* * *

I made sure to pay careful attention to Ino and Hinata as we walked around the streets that night. Every year they always, somehow, manage to run and hide from me when I'm not looking. They think its funny, like a joke, and though it kind of is, I'm always left alone to try and find them. But this year they won't escape me, because I kept a vigilant eye on them the whole time. That is until I saw Sasuke walking towards us.

Well, towards _me_, because as soon as I stopped watching Ino and Hinata, they had managed to get away _again_.

"Sakura!" a hyper active Sarah came running towards me at full force, and then skidded to a stop before me. "Sasuke is taking me trick-or-treating! Look at how much candy I got!" She practically yelled, and showed me the large bag she was carrying. It was filled to the top with candy- except most of them were wrappers. She probably ate the majority of it, hence the way she was bouncing up and down with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Wow, that's a _lot_ of candy," And I hazarded a glance towards Sasuke, who had finally made it to where we were standing (well, where I was standing – Sarah was bouncing). He looked annoyed – probably because he was missing a party because of Sarah.

"Can you guess what I am?" continued Sarah, and then she stood still for about 10 seconds before bouncing again.

I gave her costume a once-over.

And then I gave it a twice-over.

And then I just stared, confused – not quite sure what she was supposed to be.

Her costume from head to toe went as proceeded: a tiara, sunglasses, a long beaded necklace, a superman top, a tootoo, leopard spotted leggings, construction boots, a fairy wand in one hand and a water gun in the other.

Wow.

"Uh… A fairy princess, erm, spy?" I guessed, and hoped that I was somewhat close to her true intent.

"Almost! I'm a fairy _queen_ ballerina hippy leopard _super_ spy in disguise as a construction worker. I couldn't decide what I wanted to be." She corrected, matter-of-factly.

"…that's cool. I'm a fairy." I felt embarrassed saying that with Sasuke right there. By the way, he hadn't said anything yet, and he was kind of staring… at me.

"Well, I am a fairy _queen_, so I rule over you. Want some candy my loyal fairy subject?" She shoved the bag of candy in my face but I rejected. By the way- where does she learn all these words? Loyal fairy subject? Does a normal six year old know what that even means?

"Um, no thanks," I replied, and I could feel myself getting redder and redder when I noticed Sasuke was _still_ staring. Oh please don't let this be like the Starbucks incident – foam on my face was embarrassing enough.

"Okay! Then I'll have some!" And as Sarah continued to jump, she reached into her bag and shoved a whole bunch of candy into her mouth after relieving them of their wrappers. She was _wired_.

"No more candy." Sasuke finally spoke. I looked up at him, confused, and then back down at Sarah, who looked like she was about to explode – that, or have a mental breakdown.

Then it made sense.

Lots of candy and little kids don't mix – especially for Sarah. I should have seen the tantrum coming.

"But I want more candy!" Sarah whined, continuing to fill her mouth.

"Sarah." Sasuke spoke calmly, though his eyes held frustration. "No more. We're leaving."

"But I want to stay with Sakura! We're fairies in a fairy kingdom and I want the candy!" Sarah's voice cracked as it took on the edge of hysteria. All the sugar was finally getting to her.

"Um, Sarah?" I started tentatively, "I think you've had enough candy, and uh, Sasuke says its time to-"

"No! I want to trick-or-treat some more! Trick-or-treat!" Her eyes went wild as her breathing became deeper – the definite signs of a tantrum.

Sasuke saw the signs too and tried to compensate, "Until the end of the block, then we're leaving."

"But I want to stay with Sakura!" Sarah ran forward and latched onto my legs, "I want to stay!" And the tears started coming out in frantic sobs.

"Sarah," Sasuke said in a warning voice.

"I want to stay!" she screamed and I was losing my balance with her clinging to my legs. I knew she was hyper, but I didn't know it was _this_ bad. So I decided to keep my mouth shut and see if Sasuke could solve the problem.

"Sarah," Sasuke said again, though this time softer. He knelt down and placed his hands on her waist. "It's time to go." He gave a small tug to see if he could get her off my legs, but Sarah started screaming at his contact. When he gave a harder tug, her limbs went flailing, and she ended up kicking my shin. Which, might I say, hurt like a bitch.

I gasped and fell over backwards on the pavement, with Sarah still attached to my legs still sobbing. I'm definitely going to have a bruise on my butt and scrapes on my hands.

Sasuke heaved an annoyed sigh, before saying hesitantly, reluctantly, and so quietly I almost didn't hear it, "Do you want me to tell Mom?" And I know it was the wrong time to be thinking random thoughts, but Oh My God! Did that not just sound _so _adorable? He was using the 'Mom' technique on Sarah, and I actually saw, only a teensy little bit, of embarrassment on his face.

But no matter how cute I thought the excuse was, Sarah didn't fall for it. Instead, she scrambled up to my upper body while I was still on the ground. Her arms went around my neck in a strangling hold while her legs wrapped around my waist in a vice grip. I'm pretty sure I wasn't able to breath.

"Fucking shit," I heard Sasuke breath, as he stood up and ran a frustrated hand through his hair (which was _way_ hot!). Sarah continued to sob, her head on my shoulder, repeating two phrases over and over again: "I want to stay," and "Sakura trick-or-treating."

Okay, I had to calm her down, and Sasuke wasn't helping at all – he was too busy cussing and trying to get rid of the crowd that formed because of the scene Sarah made. He actually wasn't forcefully getting rid of the crowd – he was just glaring at them, though it seemed scary enough to drive people away.

During that time, I was rubbing circles on Sarah's back, and saying softly in her ear, "Shhhhshhhshhh, calm down," over and over again.

By the time the crowd had disappeared, Sarah had almost completely calmed down, worn out after the whole tantrum. You would have thought she was asleep if there wasn't a small whimper every few seconds.

This was when Sasuke took his chance to untangle me and Sarah.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke knelt down taking his hands and prying them between the space between the two on the ground, noticing Sakura's short intake of breath at his hands near her stomach. He then gently encircled his arms around Sarah's waist, hoping to lift her off of Sakura and calmly take her home. But when he tugged the slightest bit, Sarah's whimpers turned into full volume screams again. When he let go, she calmed back down to whimpers.

The two teenagers then spent a very awkward five minutes in silence, trying to figure out what to do with Sarah the Land Mine – if you stepped in the wrong places, she would explode.

Sasuke then tried to gently pull Sarah off again, but the six-year old held tight, screaming and sobbing every time Sasuke tugged – no matter how lightly he did it.

They waited another five minutes until Sakura whispered, "I think she's asleep."

And it was true – well, partially. She was asleep in a way where she wasn't fully conscious, but still in a state where she had full control of her body – meaning she would clamp her hands down on Sakura's hair if Sasuke tried to untangle the two.

"Get up," Sasuke said, turning to his last hope.

"Um, okay." Sakura replied, confused and nervous at the same time. A blush stained her cheeks when she tried, but failed to bring both herself and the six year old to stand. "I- I can't. Sarah, she's kind of heavy for me and-"

Sasuke interrupted her with a frustrated sigh. Rolling his eyes, he trudged behind her and hooked his hands underneath her arms. "Weak," he breathed, without its usual hostility, after pulling her up. He would have let her go normally, but Sasuke couldn't resist. Instead of just dropping his hands, he let them drag down Sakura's sides, earning a shiver, a blush, and lots of rambling.

Since Sarah still refused to release the teenager, Sakura was forced to carry her, albeit very awkwardly.

"Come," Sasuke stated bluntly, and turned to walk down the street.

"What? Where are we going?" Sakura inquired, struggling to keep up because of the extra weight in her hands. Sasuke suspected she had never carried something as heavy as a six-year old before.

"My car is two blocks away." He replied without even turning around. Secretly, he kind of, _kind of, _wanted to help Sakura carry his little brat of a sister, but to help her would mean to stand very close to her and hold some part of Sarah without fully detaching her from Sakura. Though it would make the other teenager _very_ flustered, it would also make it _very_ awkward for the both of them. Plus Sasuke would look like an idiot.

Sakura was completely out of breath by the time they reached Sasuke's car. He noticed that her legs trembled and that there was sweat on her brow – and this gave him a tiny tinge of what was maybe guilt. Maybe.

"We passed my friends on the way here, I should get back to them," she panted. But Sasuke ignored her and instead climbed into the front seat and started the car.

It took a couple of moments for Sakura to find the door handle, with Sarah being in her arms and all. This made the tinge-of-what-was-maybe-guilt in Sasuke grow larger. When she did open the door, she simply let herself collapse into the back seat with Sarah still in her arms – only enough energy to close the door and too exhausted to do anything else.

This surprised Sasuke only the tiniest bit, though he didn't let it show. He wasn't expecting Sakura to enter the car as well, but without Sasuke's help, Sarah was a heavy burden, and the guilt-thing grew (which also surprised him).

On the way to Sasuke's house, Sakura asked questions, trying to make small talk. It didn't work though, because Sasuke would vaguely answer and/or reply with a "Hn," and Sakura would start rambling.

By the time they reached the Carter mansion, Sarah was fully asleep. The tantrum she had must have completely worn her out, because she was releasing soft snores every once in a while. Sasuke was finally able to untangle Sarah, and before he could carry her inside, Sakura spoke.

"Um, can I get a ride back to um, my house?"

Sasuke seemed as if to say something else, but instead gave a small nod. Though she kind of provoked the tantrum, she also made it stop – and he felt, for real now, guilty for not helping her. Which was weird, because Sasuke _never_ felt guilty.

Sasuke had carried Sarah straight to her room, where he called one of the house staff to help Sarah get into her pajamas and tuck her in.

He then walked back outside to drive Sakura home. After getting into his car, he let out an uncharacteristic sigh and then-

"Is she still sleeping?" said a voice beside him.

_Déjà vu._

Sasuke turned to see Sakura in the passengers' seat looking very… _original _in a fairy costume. He nodded in reply and started the engine. "Whew," Sakura continued, "That was one hell of a tantrum."

Sasuke nodded, but then did something that he usually doesn't do- he made a compliment. "You… handled it well." He said, sounding slightly awkward.

Sakura gave a genuine smile, blushed, and then that was it.

No "thanks honey" and no kiss. But her face was _so_ close to his, and Sasuke found himself unconsciously leaning towards her, seeing her mimic his movement – but then, he stopped.

Scrutinizing himself for almost losing control of the situation, he put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Sakura was looking out the window, blushing every once in a while and fiddling with the hem of her fairy skirt, though still smiling. Sasuke was thinking, and almost lost focus of driving because of it.

Because it was so much like the dream. _So much. _Except no kiss.

And what scared him was that he _wanted_ the kiss. Wait – he wasn't scared, he was _confused _– because Sasuke doesn't get scared. But _still._ He wanted it.

And when he reached Sakura's house and she got out, saying a small thank you, Sasuke didn't reply. He was still thinking.

And usually he wouldn't have stopped himself from kissing her either, even if it was someone else's girlfriend. But Sakura… He wanted to kiss her and he _stopped_. He wanted to kiss annoying, rambling, blushing, clumsy _paper towel girl_, but he stopped himself. Not out of disgust, but just _because._ He fucking wanted to fucking kiss her and he fucking stopped _just because?!_ What type of a reason was that? What the fuck was wrong with him?! Why did he stop?

Why did he care so much?

What the fuck?

Until he fell asleep that night, his thoughts were only filled with one thing: holy fucking shit ass mother fucking whore monger shitting asswipe fuck up.

He woke up the next morning to Sarah at his doorway with puppy dog eyes and a plate filled with heart-shaped pancakes that said "sorry" in chocolate chips.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

_—Sakura—_

After Sasuke had dropped me off, I called Ino on her cell phone to tell her I was home, and she probably didn't even hear me because she was chattering on and on about how she saw me walking with Sasuke. She wanted to know _everything_. From how I met up with him to why I was carrying the little girl that was in Starbucks. I didn't tell her though. I actually kind of hung up on her – the tantrum Sarah had gave me the BIGGEST headache of my life, and Ino wasn't helping at all. The fact that I could barely move my arms didn't assist in making me feel better.

I decided I'd had enough of walking around and trick-or-treating, so I got dressed in my pj's and watched Halloween specials with Samuel on my lap.

But as I was watching TV, I noticed something smelled different. And I didn't know what it was until I realized that the pj shorts I was wearing were the ones that Sarah borrowed the first time I had babysat her.

But it didn't smell like pee or anything – because that would be disgusting – it smelled like Sasuke's clothes. And it's not like a I'm a stalker or anything – I only know what Sasuke's clothes smell like because I've been in his room and he's been _very_ close to me _many_ times. I guess the house staff use the same detergent to wash everybody in the household's clothes.

And then I noticed that not only did the pj's smell very good, but they were also _very_ soft. Fabric Softener? I think so. But what scent was it supposed to be? Lavender? No, that would be to girly... though it had some sort of a floral smell...

Samuel fell off of my lap and meowed angrily as I suddenly stood up, wondering what the hell I was doing. What sort of loser analyzes their pj's? Apparently me, but I blamed it on the headache. So I took some extra-strength Tylenol, and hopped into bed (Sam following, apparently he forgave me).

As I lay there, I couldn't help but laugh at myself (with Samuel looking at me strangely) – the position I must have been in to be able to smell and feel the pj shorts must have looked hilarious if anyone had seen it. And, just before I fell asleep, I almost secretly decided that these pyjamas were my favourite.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

"Sasuke?" Mrs. Carter knocked on his bedroom door and entered. Sasuke, who was playing one of his videogames lazily after eating all of Sarah's pancakes, paused his game and then looked over. Not only had his adoptive mother entered, but so had Sarah again – and she looked like she was about to burst with happiness. "Remember the conference that Phillip and I were supposed to go to in two weeks?" Marie asked, and Sasuke gave a nod. "Well, its been moved up to this weekend, and it would be too much of a hassle for all of us to go, so would it be okay with you if we left you two at home? The house staff can watch Sarah most of the time, so you can go to your parties and have your fun, but it would be a reassurance if you could watch her some of the time?" Sasuke thought first, and nodded again – did he really have a choice in the matter? He felt he had to-

The latter was proven when Sarah dived forward and clung to Sasuke, saying, "Hooray! Me and you for the whole weekend, _together_!"

Somehow, Sasuke slightly regretted his decision.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

The next morning as I was driving to school my car made the weirdest noise ever. It was like a muffled ticking that then turned into what sounded like a Champaign bottle being popped – then it went back to normal.

The next day the same noises happened, except this time the ending pop was so loud that it 'scared me shitless' for a lack of a better phrase. I ended up jumping, screaming, and then swerving to the side of the rode almost hitting a car and an old man. Luckily I got control in time and braked before anything serious happened.

So instead of going to school that morning, my dad and I took the car to a repair shop, and then he took me out to lunch.

"Puriti is coming down for the Christmas break," he said as the waitress came with our food.

"Really? I haven't seen her in so long! She usually visits more often," I replied excitedly. Now there will be someone to hang out with during the break.

"Mhmm," my dad nodded while taking a bite of his lunch, "But that means you can't use her car – you know how she gets if even one mile is added to the meter."

Damn. I forgot about that, so then how will I get around to places? I voiced my question out loud.

"You can probably take a taxi to the farther places, but other than that, I guess you could walk," he replied.

"Walk! But that will take so long, and what if I go shopping? How will I carry the shopping bags all the way back home?" It's going to be hell without my car, I can already tell.

"You could catch a ride from Ino or one of your friends. Or you could ride your bike."

"Ew- Dad, I'm not going to ride my bike everywhere – I'd look like a total loser!" I exclaimed. Ino would make fun of me for the rest of my life if I rode my bike everywhere. Not that there's anything wrong with bikes or biking – it's just not that popular among the students at my school, and most of the kids who _do_ ride their bikes, get picked on. I mean, I don't do the picking on, but that's the way the social structure works.

"Then I guess it's a taxi, or walking – but I can drive you to school after we finish," He said after laughing at my reaction.

"Fine." I grumbled, and continued eating my lunch.

* * *

"Absolutely not." My mother firmly said.

I let my head rest in my hands as I sat on the living room couch – watching my parents bicker back and forth. It was later the next day and in the evening; and they had already been arguing for 20 minutes.

"But mom! That's so not fair!" I protested, though I was too lazy to lift my head again.

"Ssshhh Sakura, let me handle this," my dad said, and then turned to my mom, "I think it is only reasonable that since Sakura's car is currently in repairs and she can't use Puriti's, then it is only reasonable to let her take a taxi."

"Think, how expensive it would be to take a taxi all the time?" she argued.

"It wouldn't be that expensive." I grumbled.

"Sakura," my dad warned again, "though she is right honey-"

"Don't honey me," my mom interrupted.

"Taking a taxi is basically the same price as paying for gas for her car," he continued.

"But why is she even taking a car? She's a human being, she can walk – and I was against getting them cars in the first place." My mom said – in my opinion, her argument was lame, and she definitely agreed to get us cars.

"We both agreed to get them cars, it was not only my decision." he maintained. See? I was right – my mom is just making up stupid things to get her way – and I think she's only doing it to piss my dad off. "And that's not what we are discussing now," he continued.

"Fine then, she can't take a taxi because it's too expensive." she replied.

"We just talked about this – paying for gas and taking a taxi are basically the same price." He said once again.

"It still costs a lot more, and I'm not willing to spend any more money on something that is avoidable." My mom stood up as she said this to make her point more clear.

"Oh, and this comes from the person who takes three grand and disappears for five days," my dad shot back, standing up as well. "Was that not 'avoidable'?" he said the last word while making quotation marks with his hands.

Obviously this argument was turning in a direction where the topic was not about me, so I slipped away to my room and closed the door to muffle their shouting. A couple of seconds later I heard Samuel scratching at my door frantically. I let him and he ran into my closet, probably terrified of the yelling.

I mean, honestly, they're acting like children. Even I'm more mature than them at times. Actually – scratch that last point – considering I just turned on my computer to play online games, I'm still on a lower level of maturity (though to me, my mom seems to be lowering down to my level).

I beat my high score three times before I finally heard the yelling stop. I then heard one person slam the front door while another trudged slowly up the stairs. Then there was a knock my door.

"Sakura?" It was my dad.

"Yeah?" I answered, exiting the internet window on the computer.

"Sorry, but I guess you'll have to be walking," he said while opening the door.

"No taxi?" I asked, and didn't make a big deal – my dad looked upset.

"No, sorry babe." He replied and then closed the door and I heard footsteps go down the stairs.

I shuddered at the last thing he said. 'Babe' reminded me of what Naruto called me- and hearing it from my dad made Naruto seem more and more like a brother-type person. ( A/N FYI- when Sakura's dad said 'babe' its not pedophilia/incest at all- its just another word for honey, or sweetie, or those other names that dads give u, got it? cuz after reading it, it did sound a little wrong...and I wanted to clear things up)

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke woke up to the sound of his door opening and then closing, though he didn't open his eyes. He then heard soft footsteps and the latter that lead to the loft creak. He turned over onto his stomach with his head faced down into the pillows when he heard some of the mattresses near him squeak. Then he felt a presence very near him, and though he still feigned sleep, he knew what was going on.

Small hands were placed on Sasuke's side and they slowly turned him over so he was on his back once again. It was when he felt breath on his face that he, with his eyes still closed, shot one arm out and grabbed the intruder's hand, which was only inches from his face and holding an open black marker.

A sharp gasp came from Sarah, and as she tried to free her arm, whined, "Sasuke! How did you know?!"

"Hn." He smirked, and opened his eyes, "You're not a very good secret agent."

Two minutes later, Sarah walked out of Sasuke's room, not looking very happy with a drawn-on black moustache, goatee, and glasses to adorn the frown on her face.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

I slept in the next morning until 11:30 since it was Saturday. When my mom came home last night, another argument had ensued and I hardly got any sleep. It wasn't until after making breakfast (which was more like brunch) when I remembered that Naruto and I were meeting at Sasuke's for Biology- and now I was late. In a hurry, I grabbed the first things I saw in my closet and shoved them on (one of which was the green skirt my mom got me). I then ran around the house looking for my car keys, only to remember that my car was in repair and that I had to fricken walk because my mom wouldn't let me take a fricken taxi. This would make me even more late (I didn't call for Naruto because I was still a little weirded out with the 'Babe' thing last night). I grabbed a jacket on the way out just in case – the sky was really overcast and there was a cool breeze.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

After showering and dressing, Sasuke walked down to the kitchen to have his breakfast prepared. While he was eating, one of the house staff approached him with a message. Apparently Naruto had called saying he couldn't come that day because he was sick so they should cancel, but Sasuke knew that the idiot actually had a really bad hangover from the party the previous night.

Sasuke hadn't drunken that much knowing they had to work the next day, but Naruto didn't take such precautions – and also not knowing (more like not caring) how much alcohol his body could take, he drank the night away.

So Sasuke now had a free Sunday, but had wasted what could have been a good Saturday night of getting hammered and laid – assuming that Naruto had also called Sakura and told her not to come.

* * *

_Haruno Household_

"You've reached the Haruno household, sorry we're not in right now, please leave a message at the sound of the tone and we'll call back as soon as we can."

BEEEEEEEEEP

"Hey Sakura? It's Naruto. Just calling to tell you that I've gotten sick and that we're not getting together at Sasuke's today. I'll call you later when I'm better and maybe we can have another date or something. Bye!"

* * *

_—Sakura—_

So I'm walking to Sasuke's and there is this one neighbourhood that you have to pass that is kind of sketchy. As I approached it, hoping to get by as quickly as possible, I noticed ahead of me that there were these two groups of people that didn't seem so friendly with one another. They were yelling and swearing at each other, and then one guy pushed another, and the whole crowd started fighting. I've never seen something so terrifying up close – they were like 20 feet away from me, and I had to walk right by them.

And I wasn't about to do that, so instead I turned a corner hoping to go around them and maybe even find a short cut. But I didn't really know the neighborhood that well, so guess what? I got myself lost.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

He had just finished breakfast (which Sasuke found out was more like brunch – he must have slept in) and was walking back to his room when he heard it – a soft sort of whimpering coming from one of the bathrooms. Figuring it was Sarah, he went to investigate.

He guessed correctly – Sarah was in front of the sink in one of the bathrooms, wearing a princess costume and crying quietly out of frustration. Her face and hands were smeared with black, from trying to wash off Sasuke's earlier masterpiece.

"Sarah," Sasuke said, trying to suppress a smirk. She wasn't doing a very good job, which was probably why she was crying, because he could still see most of the marker, while the rest of her face took on a greyish tint.

Sarah turned to him with big, tearing eyes and a quivering bottom lip, which took the smirk right off of Sasuke's face. "I want to be a princess," she said in between small sobs, "but I can't be a princess with all this on me," she continued, showing him her dirty hands. She then noticed that some of the marker-polluted water had dripped onto her princess costume, and let out a soft wail, "I can't do it." She plopped down into a sitting position letting out quiet despair-filled sobs and used her hands to rub her eyes – which just spread the mess around even more.

Sasuke didn't narrow or roll his eyes, he didn't even let out any sort of negative sounds or sighs; he silently walked over to the sink, picked up and wetted a facecloth, added some soap, bent down in front of Sarah, and started washing away all the marker.

Sarah's sobs had quieted to small whimpers by the time the marker was fully washed away (thankfully it was washable marker), and he even managed to get it out of her dress- but her mood was still sombre. Sasuke felt guilty, after all, it was him who drew the marker all over her face. So, checking his watch – it was almost noon – he lifted Sarah into his arms and walked out of the bathroom, then said quietly, almost softly, "Starbucks?"

Sarah nodded into his shoulder, and after making a quick trip to his room to grab his wallet (still carrying Sarah), he headed for his car.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

Okay, so I'm definitely lost. I think I'm going to try and retrace my steps and get back onto the main street.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sarah's mood was slowly becoming lighter as they drove to Starbucks, but she hadn't spoken a word yet. Out of all of the moods Sarah had- from annoyingly happy, to raging tantrum – this was the one he hated the most: when she was truly and genuinely sad. What made it even worse is it was Sasuke who caused it.

"It's raining." Sarah finally spoke, though very quietly. Sasuke glanced at her through the rear-view mirror and saw her smiling slightly with a hand on the window, following the drops that were landing and sliding down the glass.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

You have got to be freaking kidding me. Not only can I _not_ find my way back to the main street, but it started raining. Just my luck – the one day I don't have my car, it rains.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke and Sarah arrived at Starbucks just as the rain started to come down harder. Sarah still hadn't returned to her normal self, but Sasuke had a plan for that.

Since Sasuke had moved in with the Carter's, he had discovered that good looks can get you a long way. For example, when he was in elementary school, he could get out of the toughest situations where he was the criminal or catalyst. He still uses this 'talent', though now it's mostly to get free or discounted alcohol, drugs, get laid, or to just get his way (or, more recently, to fluster Sakura). His plan to make Sarah happy included this 'talent', and the girl working the register was going to be his 'victim'.

Sasuke casually walked over to the counter, leaned his elbows on it, and then said in the same, low, voice he uses to fluster Sakura (yes, he uses a certain voice especially for her), "Grande dark roast, black, and…" he looked down towards Sarah, who's chin just made it past the counter.

"Can I please have lemonade and a chocolate chip cookie please?" she asked, though it didn't hold the enthusiasm it usually does.

"And what size would that be?" asked the register girl, giving a flirtatious smile to Sasuke and then looking at Sarah for her response.

"Um, I don't know," Sarah said, and then turned towards Sasuke, tugging his sleeve to get his attention, "What size should I get?"

Sasuke turned his gaze from Sarah to the register girl, "Venti." He said, and then turned to Sarah, "The biggest."

"Wow," Sarah said, and a small smile formed on her face. She was starting to lighten up, but Sasuke had yet to put his plan in action.

"Okay, that will be 8.15 please," the register girl said and giggled under Sasuke's stare.

Sasuke, holding the register girl's eyes, reached into his back pocket to get his wallet, took out a 10 dollar bill, and held it out for the register girl to take. But when the girl reached out to take it, Sasuke caught her hand, leaned forward, and whispered into her ear something that went unheard to Sarah. Still keeping the girl's gaze, he leaned back and said, slightly husky, "Keep the change."

The register girl blushed, nodded, and then turned to prepare the drinks.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

The stupid rain decided to pour down even harder, making me completely soaked. Still not knowing where the hell I was, I kept walking, and I'm not sure I was making any progress at all.

I was getting frustrated, except I was too nervous and stubborn to go up to a house and ask directions. Plus, the houses looked kind of…unfriendly.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke received his coffee normally, but under his request, the register girl presented Sarah with her lemonade and cookie by curtsying and saying, "For the princess."

Sarah's eyes went wide as she received her order, and looked at Sasuke, who smirked. A grin spread across her face as she took the lemonade and cookie into her hands.

"Sarah," Sasuke called from the seat he'd chosen. Being so awed by being called a princess, she failed to realize Sasuke had already found a table.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she called and ran up to where Sasuke was.

Sasuke smirked for two reasons: the first being that the register girl looked like a complete idiot when she curtsied and fell for his act, and the second was that Sarah was her usual self again.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

"WHERE TH E HELL AM I!?"

I screamed out of frustration and then burst into tears. I'd been wandering in the pouring rain for over an hour, lost, wet, scared, and hungry. And I was ruining the skirt that my mom got me.

I finally decided to walk up to one of the houses and ask for directions.

No one was home in the first house, and the second house had a really creepy senile old man. The third house I went to told me that I was no where near the Carter's neighbourhood, and then slammed the door in my face.

That was why I didn't want to ask anybody in the first place.

And that meant I had only one choice left, and I really didn't want to call _him_ when I was in this state of hysteria.

* * *

_—Sasuke—_

Sasuke decided it was time to leave when the rain started to fall more heavily – Sarah wasn't fond of storms. She clung to him like a life-line as they made their way outside, and only let go once he had put her in her car seat.

Just as Sasuke pulled out of the parking space, his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

There was no reply.

"Hello?" he said again, this time more annoyed. This time, he waited for a couple of seconds as he heard muffles sobs, then came a voice.

"Sasuke?" It was definitely the voice of Sakura on the other end.

"What?" He asked bluntly.

"Um, I think I… got lost on the way… to your house." She said brokenly and in between sobs.

"Didn't the idiot call you?" He asked, getting annoyed.

"What? W-who?" she asked, and he could hear her hiccough through the phone.

"Never mind. Where are you now?" He continued reluctantly.

"I don't know, but I've been wandering for an hour because these guys looked bad and then I tried to avoid them, but I didn't know where I was going, and -"

"Saku-" he tried to cut her off but she kept rambling.

"And then I went to these houses and they were all really mean and then I didn't know what to do so I called you because you know the way to your house, right? And now-"

"Sakur-" he tried again.

"I'm wet and I'm cold and I'm wet and I'm hungry and I don't know where I am! And I'm all wet!" she sobbed, and Sasuke was finally able to speak.

"Where are you?"

"I'm on the ground because my legs hurt 'cause I've been walking for an hour and I'm tired and-"

"Where the fu-" Sasuke had to calm himself down, remembering that Sarah was present, "What is the street name." He asked, stressing each word by annunciating them perfectly.

"I don't know! I don't even know where I am!"

"Have you checked the street signs?" He replied through clenched teeth.

"Wha? sniff No, I don't think so," she answered and it seemed she had calmed somewhat.

Sasuke heard her walking through the phone, then a gasp, then an "I didn't think to look at the street sign."

_Obviously not_ he thought, but voiced differently, "So…?"

* * *

Sasuke pulled up in front of a very wet, very distressed Sakura, who was sitting on the ground at the side of the road.

Sakura got in the car silently, except for murmuring a small 'thank you', and stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Sasuke was silent too, though pissed off that Sakura was getting his car all wet. Sarah was the only person making any noise, and she was singing 'If all the rain drops' and happily slurping her lemonade.

They were still silent even as they reached the Carter house. Sarah ran off to who-knows-where, and that left Sasuke and Sakura to awkwardly stand in the front hall. Then, after a couple of minutes of uncomfortably shifting from side to side shivering in wet clothes, Sakura spoke.

* * *

_—Sakura—_

"Could… could I have um, a towel, or… um…something dry, to um, change into?" I asked timidly.

Sasuke just stared at me, and I thought he was going to refuse, but then I think he saw my teeth chattering and changed his mind.

He sighed heavily, "Come." And he led me to his room.

Once inside, he went into his bathroom/closet and threw me a pair of shorts and a T shirt. "Change in there." He said, pointing to where he came from.

This is where I got to see that it wasn't really a bathroom/closet. What I thought was a closet actually resembled a walk-in closet, but at the end, there was a door, and that led to the bathroom.

The bathroom again suited Sasuke- the colours were white and navy blue, and everything was stark clean. I also took pride in the fact that I was probably the only girl to ever be in his bathroom (excluding the house staff). And because of this, I couldn't help but do a little snooping.

The clothes that Sasuke gave me were _way_ too big for me. The T-shirt went to just above my knees, while the shorts were constantly falling down – and it's not that Sasuke is large, I think I'm just small. I felt really awkward wearing his clothes, and even more so knowing that Sasuke would see me in them.

I walked out of the bathroom and through the closet while carrying my wet clothes, and drowning in Sasuke's. They were so big the shorts kept on falling down – I had to keep one hand on them at all times. So not only did I probably look absolutely ridiculous in Sasuke's clothes, but the rain had smudged my mascara and made my make-up run. I probably looked a complete wreck.

Sasuke didn't make me feel any better about it either – he just stared with an indifferent expression when he saw me, and there was an awkward silence that followed.

"Um… can I possibly, um, have a bag or something… or… um… get these dried, maybe? Please?" I asked, trying to break the silence. He stared for a couple more seconds, then shoved his hands in his pockets, gave a small nod, rolled his eyes, and turned to go out the door. I followed him down a couple of hallways and stairs, to a door that lead to a laundry room. There, he told me to hand my clothes over to one of the staff, who I assumed would wash them.

"Are we going to, um, work on the project still?" I asked as I followed him back to his room.

He didn't speak or turn around, he just nodded once.

"Um, okay," I answered, and turned to fiddling with the hem of the shirt I was wearing. I noticed that it was very similar to the one he had on and wondered if his whole wardrobe was made up of dark, very similar looking t-shirts.

Then I wondered if the pajama shorts that Sarah borrowed were washed the same as Sasuke's close. So, taking the hem of the shirt, I slowly, making sure he wouldn't turn around, brought it up to my nose.

Yup, it did smell the same – but I still couldn't figure out what the scent was supposed to be of. And while I was so stupidly smelling his shirt, I failed to realize that we had already made it to his room, and that he had stopped briefly to open the door. But that was all the time I needed to take the one extra step that would make me bump into him. Now, it wouldn't have been as embarrassing if I had just _normally_ bumped into him- but of course, the bottom of his shirt (the one I was wearing) was clutched in my hands, pressed up against my nose, and exposing my bare stomach- which was the part that just so happened to come in contact with his arm. And no matter how mortifying the situation was, I couldn't bring myself to move –I was frozen. Frozen with me smelling his shirt and my stomach bare, pressed up against his bare arm – and my face was probably so red that the shade was darker than my hair.

So Sasuke turned to look at me, catching me in that exact position – and I _still_ couldn't move. But he didn't move either.

Sasuke's left arm led to his pocket, while his right- the one my stomach was so conveniently in contact with- was in the midst of reaching for the doorknob of his room. His body had become tense the moment I bumped into him, and his face showed indifference with a hint of annoyance. And when his eye twitched once, I thought he would either become very angry, or burst out laughing. Since the latter would probably never happen to Sasuke, I mentally prepared for the former.

But it never came.

Instead, his eyes gave me a pretty _long_ once-over. His right arm, because he couldn't have just taken it away like a normal person, slowly skimmed across the flesh of my stomach as he removed it. I shivered and blushed harder. One of his eyebrows quirked and, after he opened the door, he walked into his room as if nothing had happened. I then recognized the look that was present in his eyes as the whole ordeal had played – it was amusement. And amusement meant that he was teasing me, or making fun of me, or something! And in any other event I would have been pissed at that, but two factors were different this time: one, this was the unbelievably, smolderingly attractive Sasuke; two, the fact that he had been teasing me, made it very hard to breath.

I only moved when I felt the shorts start to slide off of my hips. I let go of the shirt and grabbed the shorts to keep them secure.

So, after regaining the ability to inhale and exhale properly again, I straightened myself out and walked through the door.

I found Sasuke sitting at his desk with his knapsack open and the computer turned on. I assumed we were working in his room then.

"Um, is there another chair?" I asked as I walked over to the desk.

"Closet." He replied, as he fished his binder out of his bag. I gave a small 'okay' and made my way towards his closet.

As I looked for the chair I couldn't help but be a bit curious – I mean I am in a completely gorgeous guy's closet. So while I pretended to look for the chair, I took a quick overview of his closet.

Most of the clothes seemed expensive- from the labels I could see, they were practically all were designer names. His clothes also took on the usual Sasuke colours – black, white, blue and the occasional red – but from where I could see and without snooping too much, I did spot some more colourful shirts near the back of the racks and shelves.

I also came upon Sasuke's cologne collection as well, which I couldn't help but go through.

I only recognized two bottles out of the whole collection – most of the names were in foreign languages (though there were a couple of Spanish ones I could sound out). The two I recognized the most though, were Calvin Klein's Contradiction, and Dolce and Gabanna's D&G. But as I was looking through them, Sasuke coughed from the computer desk which freaked the hell out of me – I thought that he had caught me snooping in his closet. Well, because the sound surprised me, I had jumped, which had knocked over one of the bottles of Cologne – more specifically, Contradiction. Luckily, it hadn't broken because the floor was carpeted; but it did cause the cap to come off, which then caused the cologne to leak. Whispering curses, I quickly picked up the bottle and screwed the cap back on. But now I smelled like Sasuke, the bottle was basically empty, and there was a spill of cologne on the carpet. And even though it seemed very stalkerish (not that going through his closet isn't stalker enough), I secretly enjoyed the smell of the cologne mixed with the detergent smell the clothes that I was wearing held – I guess I liked it because it smelled like Sasuke. But I shouldn't have been doing that, because there was a stain of cologne on the floor, I still hadn't returned with a chair, and it kind of made me look like a psychopath.

So, with my face tinged red again, I found the chair, hauled it out of the closet, and set it gently beside Sasuke – who sniffed the air in a confused manor.

Comprehension flickered quickly across his face before returning to the usual passive as I nervously confessed, "Um, while I was getting the chair from the closet, I accidentally, um, knocked one of the, uh, cologne bottles – it spilled a little, and I'm really sorry because it got on the carpet, and I didn't mean to and it really was an accident, but I'm so sorry, and um…yeah" I trailed off awkwardly because I realized I was rambling (which seems to be happening a lot ever since Sasuke came) He rolled his eyes and breathed a 'stupid' before getting up and walking over to the closet. I stayed where I was – too embarrassed to see his reaction. I then saw him leave the closet, then exit his room. I also hoped that he wouldn't remember that the chair was at the opposite side of the closet from the cologne.

As I waited for him to return, I noticed his binder was open and, because I promised myself I wouldn't do anymore snooping, just observed. His binder was completely organized and neat, which was expected, and it looked like he had every note he had taken in class there. I also noticed how perfect his writing was – while mine was round and curvy, his was straight and precise.

But before I could continue my observations, I heard footsteps coming towards the room again – so I sat down in the foldable chair and acted as if I wasn't being a total stalker. While I was waiting for Sasuke to reenter his room, I also noticed that his desktop background on his computer was of him and Sarah. They were on some sort of boat, and they looked like they were fishing. Sarah had a foolish look of disgust on her face and was seemingly squirming and pointing to Sasuke, who was taking a large fish off of the hook on the fishing rod with his bare hands and smirking slightly. I giggled slightly at the picture, but stopped immediately the moment Sasuke entered. He silently sat down beside me in his chair, and without even acknowledging my presence – started to research the part for our science project.

"Um, I'm really sorry," I said, trying to break the awkward tension between us. His eyes flickered to me, and then away – that was the only sign I got to know that he wasn't ignoring me. "Is the spill going to be cleaned up?" I tried again, but he only muttered 'maid' and continued to work silently. This wasn't helping the tension – it actually seemed to thicken it. So instead of sticking on the topic of my screw-ups, I decided to go for the work approach.

"Do you have the project outline?" I asked. He answered with a 'binder' and I tentatively searched it for the sheet. It wasn't hard to find because his binder was so organized, and after fishing it out, I read over the instructions. It said we had to 'research the basic function of our focus.' That was easy enough. "Try wikipedia," I suggested timidly. His glanced at me before complying. That made a small smile grace my lips – to know that he actually listened.

The rest of the time at Sasuke's played out nicely. We finished the part we were supposed to do quickly, and I didn't receive any glares – though what did happen a couple of times was the amused glint that would pass through his eyes when he would do something that would make me either an embarrassed idiot, a blushing idiot, or a rambling idiot. And I especially looked like a _total_ idiot when I got home. Sasuke seemed to have forgiven me about the cologne incident because he offered (more like silently walking to his car with me following, then getting into his car and giving me a strange look before rolling his eyes and saying, 'Am I giving you a ride or not?') to give me a ride home.

But what made me look like an idiot, was the fact that I was wearing my top, and Sasuke's shorts. According to the maid person that gave me back my clothes, the top was machine washable, but the skirt was a certain type of new designer and had to be air-dried. So I had to take the skirt home in a bag while still wearing Sasuke's shorts. What was even worse was when I was changing into my own shirt in Sasuke's bathroom- after I took off his top I looked it over briefly, only to realize that my bra hadn't dried (from my glorious walk in the rain) and had dampened two parts of the cloth right around my boobs, making two wonderfully dark circles.

Maybe that's why Sasuke didn't feel the need to embarrass me as much – I already had myself.

The next day, when I reflected all of this, I felt really bad and really embarrassed about it. And I also realized why Sasuke had stared at me – my hair was wet and it dried naturally, so he saw it in its really random state of curliness (this made me very distressed when I figured it out). And the whole getting lost and acting hysterical and making Sasuke come and pick me up thing made me feel guilty. So, my Sunday was spent pacing around my phone, deciding whether or not to call and apologize.

I finally did end up calling, though I planned exactly what I was going to say. But this is what he did after my whole apology:

"…Hn." And then he hung up.

I was speechless for a couple of seconds, and then I suddenly got so outraged that I took my phone and threw it down on the floor. I immediately regretted my actions, and luckily the phone wasn't broken.

On Monday, I had asked Naruto to return Sasuke's shorts – which I had washed and folded and put into a plastic bag. His reaction was confusion – his exact words being,

"Wait a minute. First Sasuke is returning your shorts to you, and now you're returning his shorts to him? Are you sure there's nothing going on?" He finally agreed to return the shorts when I explained the story – though I only told him that I was lost and that it rained – nothing else. He passed it off and laughed at the fact of me getting lost in a sketchy neighborhood, though I noticed that there was some sort of reluctance or maybe suspicion in his eyes. I also noticed that he didn't kiss me that morning.

And I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or not. Actually, lately, I'm not sure about a lot of things.


End file.
